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LIFE SKETCHES 



STATE OFFICERS, SENATORS, 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY 



STATE OF NEW YORK, 



IN 1867- 



By S. R, HARLOW and H. H. BOONE. 



® i 

y of W*d#f$#* 
ALBANY: 

WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
1867. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six 

By S. R. HARLOW and H. H. BOONE, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 

District of New York. 



■WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, 
PRINTERS, 8TEREOTYPERS AND BOOKBINDERS 
ALBANY, N. Y. 



INTRODUCTION. 



About six months ago, the Editors first entertained the idea of 
issuing a volume, giving a concise narration of the leading events 
in the lives of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature. 
Their project meeting with favor, at the outset, they were encour- 
aged to consummate it. The most of their labor, in the midst 
of other duties, has been crowded into the brief space of three 
months ; this book is the result. No care has been spared by them 
to make it valuable for reference, both as to facts and dates ; and 
yet an occasional error may possibly be found. 

It will be seen that the Sketches of the Members of the Legisla- 
ture are alphabetically arranged, thus removing the necessity for 
an index. 

The Editors avail themselves of this opportunity to express their 
thanks for the uniform courtesy extended toward them, by every 
gentleman whose name appears within this volume, and to other 
gentlemen, — many of them strangers at the incipient stages of 
this work, — who have rendered invaluable assistance in furnishing 
incidents and dates for the compilation of these Sketches. 



LIFE SKETCHES. 



REUBEN E. FENTON, 

GOVERNOR. 

Reuben E. Fenton, who has just been chosen Gover- 
nor of New York, for a second term, was born in Carroll, 
Chautauqua county, on the 4th of July, 1819. His father 
is a native of New Hampshire; but the Fenton family is 
of Connecticut origin. His grandfather resided there 
until about the year 1777. The Governor is a descendant 
of Robert Fenton, who was a man of note among the 
early settlers of that State, and one of the patentees of 
Mansfield, when that town was set off from Windham, in 
1703. The family was a patriotic one during the Revolu- 
tionary wai*, and furnished its share of soldiers in " the 
times which tried men's souls," who did good service in 
the struggle which resulted in the establishment of our 
Republican government. 

Governor Fenton is the son of a hard-working farmer, 
and spent his early years on the old homestead. He was 
an amiable, friendly boy, and a universal fovorite among 
his associates. Whatever was going on in the neighbor- 
hood where he lived, he was expected to participate in and 
lead. When the boys organized for " a training," they 
invariably placed young Fenton in command ; and it is 
probably owing to this fact, and the military knowledge 



6 LIFE SKETCHES. 

thus acquired, that before he was twenty-one years of age 
he was elected to the Colonelcy of the 162d regiment, 
New York State Militia. 

His opportunities for acquiring an education were very 
limited, but they were well improved. He was a good 
scholar when he was in the common school, and when, 
subsequently, he passed a few terms in different academies, 
he made rapid progress as a student, and won the appro- 
bation of his preceptors for his manly qualities and exem- 
plary deportment. He read law one year, jiot with the 
view of going into the profession, but to make himself 
familiar with the principles and forms of that science, 
under the impression that this knowledge would be useful 
to him in whatever business he might engage. 

At the age of twenty he commenced business, with very 
limited means, and under adverse circumstances. But the 
fact did not discourage him, nor turn him from his pur- 
poses. The world was before him, and what others had 
accomplished, young Fextox resolved should be done by 
him. He went at his work with all the earnestness and 
energy of his character, and a few years saw him a success- 
ful and prosperous merchant. While in this pursuit, he 
turned his attention to the lumber trade, as an auxiliary to 
his mercantile business. He was still a young man when he 
purchased his first "boards and shingles," and as he floated 
oft* upon his fragile raft, valued at less than one thousand 
dollars, there were not wanting those who wondered at 
his temerity, and the failure of his enterprise was confi- 
dently predicted. But nothing could dampen his ardor. 
He lied his little raft safely on the shore of the Ohio, near 
Cincinnati, went into the city, found a customer, sold his 
lumber, and returned to his home with a pride and satis- 
faction never excelled in after years, though he Avcnt the 
round with profits ten-fold greater. Lumbering became 
in a few years his principal business; and to such a man, 



REUBEN E. FENT0N. 7 

success and competence A^ere but a matter of time. He 
soon enjoyed the reputation of being the most suc- 
cessful lumberman on the Alleghany and Ohio rivers ; 
but this came only because he wrought it by untiring 
perseverance and indefatigable energy. 

In the business capacity of Governor Fenton, will be 
found the basis of his success in life ; and to the same fact 
he is doubtless in a great measure, indebted for his politi- 
cal advancement. Uniting superior business qualities with 
an invincible determination to succeed in whatever he 
undertakes, he has seldom failed to attain the object of 
his ambition. He was successful as a merchant ; suc- 
cessful as a lumberman ; and he has been successful as a 
politician. His idea is that a man to succeed, should be 
" always on hand." He Avas accustomed to fill his store 
with goods before his neighbors filled theirs ; and in the 
early spring, before " the thaw " was expected, his lumber 
was snugly rafted on the banks of creeks, ready to take 
the current and be the first to reach Pittsburgh and Cin- 
cinnati. It was not only a pride he felt in being at the 
head of the river fleets, but experience on different occa- 
sions when his readiness and preparation found him the 
only man in market, had taught him that it was equally 
profitable. 

In 1843, Mr. Fenton was chosen Supervisor of his native 
town, and held the position for eight successive years. 
Three of these eight he was Chairman of the Board, 
though the Board Avas two to one Whig, Avhile he Avas a 
Avell-knoAvn Democrat. But he Avas courteous and affable, 
manly and upright, genial and sensible, and his opponents 
by common consent selected him to preside OAer their 
deliberations. What higher compliment could be paid 
him as a fair-minded and honorable man ! 

In 1849, his friends tried him for the Assembly, and he 
came within twenty-one A r otes of being elected, though 



8 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the successful caudi. late was one of the oldest and most 
popular men in the Assembly district, which was strongly 
Whig. 

In 1852, he was nominated by his Democratic friends 
for Congress, and elected by fifty-two majority, though 
the district, from the manner in which it was accustomed 
to vote, should have given at least 3,000 majority against 
him. lie took his seat on the first Monday in December, 
1853, in a House which was Democratic by about two to 
one. Mr. Douglas, Chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Territories, in the course of the session was beguiled into 
embodying in a bill which provided for the organization 
as territories of Kansas and Nebraska, a repeal of that 
portion of the Missouri compromise of 1820, which forbade 
the legalization of slavery in any territory of the United 
States, lying north of 1ST. lat. 36° 30 r . Mr. Fen-tost, with N. 
1'. Banks, and quite a number of the younger Democrats, 
with Col. Thomas IT. Benton and oilier seniors, stead- 
lastly opposed this proposition, and opposed the bill 
because of it. The bill was nevertheless forced through 
the Souse by a vote of 113 to 100, and became a law. 
In the division that thereupon ensued, Mr. Fenton took 
Republican ground with Preston Kino, Ward Hunt, 
GEORGE OPDTKE, and other conspicuous Democrats, and 
he has never since been other than a Republican. 

In 1854, the Know Nothings carried his district by a 
considerable majority (-Mr. Fkxton consenting to be a can- 
didate on the Saturday previous to election), as they did 
a good many others in the State; but, in 185G, he ran on 
the Fremont ticket, and was elected, and thence reelected 
by large and generally increasing majorities down to 18G4, 
when he withdrew, having been nominated for Governor. 
lie thus served five terras in Congress, each as the repre- 
sentative of the strongly Whig district composed of 
Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, which contains 



REUBEN" E. PENTON. V 

many able and worthy men who Avere in full accord with 
its by-gone politics, and to the almost unanimous accept- 
ance of his constituents. 

Immediately on entering Congress, Mr. Fenton espoused 
the cause of the soldiers of 1812, and shortly after intro- 
duced a bill providing for the payment of the property 
accounts between the United States and the State of New 
York, for military stores furnished in the war of 1812. 
This measure he continued to urge upon the attention of 
Congress, and finally, on the 30th May, 1860, had the 
satisfaction to witness its passage in the House by a vote 
of 98 to 80. He Avas Chairman of the Committee on Com- 
merce in the XXXIIId and XXXVth Congresses, and 
performed the duties appertaining to that position in a 
manner satisfactory to all. It is but simple truth to say 
that he was one of the quietly industrious and faithful 
members of the House. Nor was he a silent representa- 
tive. He could talk when there seemed a necessity for 
speaking. During his Congressional career, he delivered 
able and effective speeches against the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise Act ; in advocacy of a cheap postal 
system ; the bill to extend invalid pensions ; for the 
improvement of rivers and harbors ; to regulate emigra- 
tion to this country ; against the policy of the Democratic 
party with regard to Kansas ; for the final settlement of 
the claims of the soldiers of the Revolution ; in vindica- 
tion of the principles and policy of the Republican party; 
on the Deficiency bill ; the bill to facilitate the payment 
of bounties ; on the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law ; on 
providing for payment of losses by the rebellion, &c. 

Mr. Fentok served in Congress nearly to the end of the 

war for the Union, of which he was one of the firmest 

and most efficient supporters. Believing the Union to be 

right and the rebellion wrong throughout, he gave his 

best energies to the national cause, voting steadily for 
2 



10 LIFE SKETCHES. 

taxes, loans, levies, drafts, and for the emancipation policy 
whereby they were rendered effectual. Men of greater 
pretensions were abundant in Congress, but there Avas 
none more devoted, or more ready to invoke and to make 
sacrifices for the triumph of the Union. 

In the fall of 18G2, Mr. Fexton's name was favorably 
mentioned in connection with the office of Governor, but 
finding Gen. Wadswokth was to be pressed for a nomina- 
tion, Mr. Fenton promptly withdrew from the canvass, and 
yielded to the patriot soldier his warmest support. In 
1864, Mr. Fenton was designated as the standard-bearer 
of the Republican party, and chosen Governor by a 
majority considerably larger than Mr. Lincoln's ; and two 
years later, he was unanimously nominated for reelection, 
and the wisdom of the selection is sufficiently attested by 
the increased majority he received in 1866 over that given 
him in 1864. 

The administration of Gov. Fenton commenced at the 
culminating period of the war, and required the exercise 
of industry, method, decision, and the power of discrimi- 
nating, originating and executing. He brought to the 
discharge of his new position all these forces of body and 
mind, and proved patient amid perplexities, quick in his 
perceptions, safe in his judgments, mastering toilsome 
details, and successfully meeting difficult emergencies. 
His practical training, his wide experience, his luminous 
intellect and well-disciplined judgment, saved him from 
the failure that a man of less power might have encoun- 
tered. His official relations with our soldiers did not 
weaken the attachments that had given him the honored 
title of the " soldier's friend." He was prompt to reward 
merit, and skillful to harmonize differences that often 
threatened demoralization and serious injury to many of 
the military organizations then in the field. Upon the 
return of our brave boys, Gov. Fenton addressed the 



REUBEN E. FENT0N. 11 

following letter to the War Committees of the various 
districts in the State : 

Gentlemen : The late orders of the Secretary of War for muster- 
ing out a large portion of the grand array are being rapidly carried 
into effect, and it is to be hoped that by the Fourth of July most 
of the regiments to be discharged under the orders will have reached 
their homes. In view of this fact, allow me to call your attention 
to the propriety of celebrating that day in a manner not only befitting 
the anniversary of the nation's birth, but also commemorating its 
recent rescue from imminent peril. I need not say that welcome 
and all honor to the men whose patriotism has consecrated the 
nation to a new career of greater freedom, whose bravery has given 
security from strife and perpetuity to our institutions, should be one 
of the most prominent features of such an occasion. Let us at once 
demonstrate, by a grand ovation, our devotion to the institutions 
preserved to us, and our gratitude to those who with heroic con- 
stancy, defended them through years of terrible war. I have 
thought best not to issue an executive proclamation to this end, as 
I prefer this demonstration should be the spontaneous uprising of 
the people, eagerly welcoming back the citizen soldiers — our friends 
and neighbors — from the dangers of the battle-field and the severe 
duties of military discipline, to peace and the exercise of civil rights 
under the quiet which their valor has secured. I sincerely hope 
these suggestions may meet with favor from your people, and that 
each locality will arrange such a programme as shall, according to 
its circumstances, best devote the day to commemoration, gratitude 
and general rejoicing. 

Very truly yours, E. E. FENTON. 

His judicious course fully commanded public confidence 
and approval, and at the close of the first year of his term, 
Moses H. Grinnell, Wm. M. Vermilye, Joseph B. 
Collins, Richard L. Taylor, Peter Cooper, John 
Hecker, Minthorne Tompkins, Isaac Sherman, J. S. 
Schultz and many other prominent and wealthy citizens 
of New York city, addi*essed to him a letter of thanks, 
promising him their hearty cooperation and support in his 
efforts to meliorate the condition of the meti'opolis. A 



12 LIFE SKETCHES. 

few months later, when in New York city, thousands of 
such men waited upon him in person, giving high assur- 
ance of respect and approbation. The "New York 
Tribune " referred to this remarkable demonstration as a 
proper recognition of official worth and integrity, saying, 
"This hearty welcome sprang from generous and enduring 
remembrance of the protection afforded to our municipal 
rights and franchises, in his judicious exercise of the veto 
power." 

His vetoes of various bills which would have deprived 
the City of New York of valuable franchises, without 
compensating advantages, proved so acceptable to the 
Board of Supervisors of New York county, that the fol- 
lowing resolution was unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Board are hereby tendered to 
ITis Excellency, Governor Fenton, for his recent vetoes of various 
bills passed by the Legislature of this State infringing upon the 
rights and franchises of this city and county, and we sincerely con- 
gratulate the people of the State of New York in having an Execu- 
tive who possesses the vigilance and fearlessness necessary to correct 
the errors of hasty and imperfect legislation. 

Gov. Fenton's State papers are always compact, cogent 
and convincing. His vigor of style and strength of diction 
are admirably illustrated in a letter to the committee that 
invited him to a meeting held at Cooper Institute, in New 
York city, in the fall of 1866, for the purpose of ratifying 
the action of the State Union Convention : 

State oof New York, Executive Department, ) 
Albany, October 13, 18G6. J 

G-entlemen: I cannol attend the meeting at Cooper Institute on 
the 15th inst, to which you invite me; my public duties at the 
1 will prevent. 

The questions now agitating the public mind are of the greatest 
moment and intere b; and they are such as could not be presented 
to any other people. It will not be forgotten that the gigantic war 



RETTBEX E. FENTOX. 13 

through which we have just passed was prosecuted on behalf of the 
government in defense of the supremacy of the ballot. The clearly- 
expressed will of the nation is the supreme law of the land. 
Against an expression of this will, men honored by large communi- 
ties with public trusts which they were ready to betray for purposes 
of guilty ambition, stimulated their States to revolt, and by crafty 
and dangerous devices, inflamed the passions of their people, until 
in a spirit of frantic and blind delusion they fired upon their own 
flag, and enveloped the whole land in the flame of war. The com- 
mon traditions ; the national pride ; the sacred oath of fealty ; these 
were all forgotten, scouted, or ignored, and under the ill-starred 
banner of rebellion, organized armies marched to crush out the 
grand heritage of American freedom, and to reverse by force of 
arms the constitutional expression of the popular will. Patriotic 
men sprang from the various walks of labor and industry, from the 
schools and colleges, the fields and the workshops ; fortunes were 
thrown into the scale ; fireside circles were broken, and every house- 
hold was made familiar with the perils of mutilation, captivity and 
death, in that common spirit of loyalty and devotion which prompted 
the fixed resolve, from the hour that Sumter fell, that the Union 
our fathers had established should stand, and that the rights and 
liberties of a free people, secured by covenant, should be maintained 
in blood. These patriot forces trampled out the fires of rebellion ; 
the principle of popular government was vindicated; and the 
leaders and armies of the conspirators surrendered, as prisoners of 
war, the weapons with which they sought the destruction of their 
country. 

To the representatives of these communities who thus organized 
to destroy our liberties, we are urged to commit, at once and without 
guarantees, the authority to legislate for us ; to award justice to the 
soldiers and sailors by whom they were subdued ; to determine 
whether the public debt shall be paid ; and to claim undue prepon- 
derance of representation in the national councils, and a dispropor- 
tionate vote in the electoral college, as a reward for a defeated and 
treasonable attempt to subvert the government. 

Places are now claimed in the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives for men who foreswore their allegiance to the Constitution, 
and held office under the usurpation of Davis, and his associate con- 



14 LIFE SKETCHES. 

spirators. Such an assumption is against the common sense of the 
country. It is plain that on the dissolution of the rebel armies 
there was no lawful local government in any of the insurgent States ; 
nor was there any power in the people of those States to regain the 
status they lost by organized rebellion. The State action which 
they now invoke to excuse individuals from the penalties of personal 
crime, disabled them as communities from resuming, without the 
consent of the people on whom they made war, a participation in 
governing them, by claiming the place abdicated for the purposes 
of treason. ' Their right of representation as States being thus prac- 
tically suspended by their own act, what power is competent to 
reinstate them in their former -relations to the government ? 
Evidently it is not in the States themselves, independent of Con- 
gressional sanction or recognition. There is no lawful local execu- 
tive to call an election, and no lawful local government under which 
such an election can be made. The Federal government is to 
determine what shall be the terms of restoration. It is a question 
for the sovereign power, and with us the sovereign is not the 
President, but the people. Under the Constitution, the will of the 
people is to be expressed through its representatives in Congress 
assembled. The simple duty of the President is to execute their 
will, thus expressed. By interposing his veto, he may compel them 
to express it by a two-thirds vote ; but it is the will of the people, 
and not his will which is expressed ; and it is not by his vote, but 
by the vote of Congress, that it has the force of a popular law. 

With unerring judgment and forecast, the martyred Lincoln 
appreciated the question in its true aspect ; and in commissioning 
loyal men, with the simple powers of military governors, he provided 
for the present peace; while he recognized in the people in Congress 
assembled the only competent authority to restore permanent civil 
government in the insurgent States, under the Constitution they 
had foresworn, and to determine the conditions under which they 
should be restored to their practical relations in the Union. Such 
is the common judgment of the loyal States. Such is the clear con- 
viction and the firm demand of the mass of loyal men North and 
South. It is a question which belongs to the people, and not to the 
President — to the law-making power, and not to the agent, whose 
duty it is to enforce the laws and to obey them. 



REUBEN E. TEUTON. 15 

But it is claimed that the adoption of the amendments proposed 
by Congress ought not to be made a condition of representation ; 
that however just in themselves, no constitutional safeguard should 
be provided which has not been passed upon in Congress by the 
insurgent States. The weakness of this position is too obvious to 
deceive any but those who advance it. The President is, doubtless, 
competent to proclaim the cessation of hostilities and the return of 
peace ; but Congress alone can guarantee a Republican form of gov- 
ernment to States which have subverted their own governments 
established under the Constitution. 

In the discharge of a high public trust, the present Congress has 
patiently and laboriously investigated the condition of that portion 
of the country convulsed by the recent rebellion ; and, in a com- 
mendable spirit of moderation, it has proposed for adoption, an 
amendment to the Constitution, so reasonable and appropriate to 
the existing state of affairs, that its propriety and justice are admit- 
ted even by those who oppose its adoption. The plan of adjustment 
thus presented, is the only one before the people. It has the sanc- 
tion of an overwhelming majority in the Senate and House of 
Representatives ; it has been heartily and earnestly indorsed by the 
people of every State in which a general election has since been 
held ; it will receive the unanimous approval of all the States, 
whose unwavering loyalty bore us triumphantly through the war ; 
it is a noble and magnanimous peace-offering tendered by Congress, 
in behalf of the people, to the misguided States which permitted 
themselves to be precipitated into rebellion by bold and reckless 
leaders, some of whom are now demanding instant and uncondi- 
tional admission to seats in the governing council of the nation. 
Very respectfully, 

R. E. FENTOK 
To Messrs. F. A. Conkling, Francis A. Thomas, Owen W. Brennan, 
John Fitch, Charles A. Dana, Committee. 

His views upon the pending issues, were afterward ably- 
maintained in a speech delivered at a large political 
gathering in Jamestown, just prior to the election of I860. 
An unerring test of the correctness of his opinions, and 
the wisdom of his administration, is furnished in the fact 



16 LIFE SKETCHES. 

that, during the late canvass, his opponents were utterly 
unable to assail his official record, while his friends effect- 
ively employed the same in his behalf. 

Governor Fenton realizes that the people have made 
him their Chief Magistrate, and that they look to him, and 
to no other person, for the faithful discharge of the duties 
of the responsible position. He 'is controlled by no clique 
— he is the agent of no cabal. He patiently listens to all 
who desire to consult him, and then follows the dictates 
of his own good judgment. He has no prejudice so strong, 
nor partiality so great as to lead him to do an unjust act. 

He is a careful thinker and a hard worker. No man 
ever labored more hours in the Executive Chamber than 
he does. Whatever work engages his attention, he attends 
to it personally, even to the minutest details. 

In the character of Governor Fenton, extremes center : 
though a decided radical in his convictions, there is just 
enough conservatism about him to make him an entirely 
s:if'e mini. Though a man of intense feelings and strong 
prejudices, no man is more impartial and unbiased when a 
duty is to be performed. There are few men whose minds 
are as well balanced as his ; the strong points in his char- 
acter are not neutralized by weak ones. 

The Governor is a fearless man. Make it clear to him 
that a thing ought to be done, and he will do it, no matter 
who may advise differently ; and yet he will never do a 
rash act. He is entirely open and frank in his intercourse 
with men, and at the same time cautious and reserved : 
though easy and unassuming in his manner, he is always 
dignified and circumspect. In the generosity of his nature 
he would grant every request that might be addressed to 
him; but this is often impracticable; he cannot give 
everybody an office; he cannot comply with the wishes of 
all who make known their wants ; where there is a conflict 
of opinion, he is obliged to act on his own responsibility; 



REUBEN E. FENTON. 17 

and this he does without hesitation, and rarely makes a 
mistake. He possesses a noble heart, and naturally sym- 
pathizes with those who need assistance. During the late 
war, he visited battle-fields on which our young men lay 
weltering in blood, and hospitals to which they had been 
conveyed, because he thought he might minister to their 
comfort, and at least gladden their hearts ; nor could he 
have done otherwise. His feelings as certainly take him to 
places where a sympathetic word is a blessing, as the 
needle turns to the pole. That the feelings of youth 
survive in his manhood, and that he cherishes a warm 
sympathy for childhood, is very pleasantly shown in a 
letter acknowledging a testimonial of membership to the 
American Sunday School Union, presented by the scholars 
of a Sabbath School. In his reply to the Superintendent 
he says : 

" Thank the boys for me and tell them I shall place the gift in 
my study, that I may never forget in the performance of the grave 
duties to which I am called, that little children are taking note of 
what I do, sure that if my conduct can be held up in commendation 
to those of whom Christ says: 'Of such is the kingdom of Heaven,' 
it will reach the highest standard of earthly merit." 

Governor Fenton believes in doing good to all ; that 
kind offices are rarely lost on any member of the human 
family ; that they tend to make mankind better and hap- 
pier. This is his religion, and he manifests it by acts 
rather than words. More brilliant men may have occupied 
the executive chair in our State, but it has been filled by 
no more sagacious statesman, and by no more conscien- 
tious man, and such will be the verdict of those who shall 
impartially write a history of the times wherein we live. 
3 



STEWART L. WOODFORD, 

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. 

Lieutenant-Governor Woodford is a native of the 
metropolis of New York, where he was born in the year 
1835. 

His father, Josiah C. Woodford, was from Hartford 
county, Connecticut ; his mother, from Suffolk county, 
Long Island, in this State. 

He was a boy of good promise, whose success in life was 
foreshadowed by his industry and tenacity of purpose. 
Before he was fifteen years of age, he entered the Fresh- 
man Class of the Columbia College, from which he grad- 
uated with high honors in 1854. He then turned his 
attention to the study of law in the office of Brown, Hall 
& Vanderpool, at New York, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1857. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Woodford was popular and successful, 
and almost immediately took a prominent place among 
the younger members of his profession. 

In the year 18G0, he was a delegate to the convention at 
Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the 
Presidency. On his return, he entered into the canvass 
with great spirit, and worked unceasingly for the Repub- 
lican cause. His eloquence was heard from the rostrum, 
and his energies were felt in private councils in behalf of 
the great interests which he was willing subsequently to 
defend in the held. It was his jDrivilege, after that mem- 
orable canvass, to convey the vote of the Electoral College 
of New York, to Washington. Closely following the 
honor thus conferred upon him, was his election as Chair- 
man of the Young Men's Republican Committee, of the 
City of New York. 



STEWART L. WOODFORD. 19 

In April, 1861, Mr. Woodford was appointed Assistant 
United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New 
York. This was an office of importance, requiring a high 
order of abilities for the proper discharge of its weighty 
duties ; and Mr. Woodford filled it in an unexceptionable 
manner. After the breaking out of the rebellion, the 
blockade of the Southern ports rendered necessary the 
creation of a bureau in that office, for the legal prosecu- 
tion of the vast number of naval captures made by the 
government/ This bureau was placed in charge of Mr. 
Woodford, whose industry, aided by natural talent and 
keen discrimination, enabled himjto successfully present to 
the court the intricate questions arising for adjudication. 

In 1862, after the gloomy retreat of McClellast across 
the Peninsula, a general feeling of the necessity of renewed 
action and sacrifice, pervaded the hearts of the people. 
Mr. Woodford hastened to obey the common impulse, 
resigned his lucrative office, and enlisted for the war as a 
private. He was immediately elected captain of his 
company, which was assigned to the 127th regiment New 
York Volunteers, under Col. William Gurney. Before 
leaving for the front, he was again promoted to a Lieu- 
tenant-Colonelcy. About this time, he removed his resi- 
dence to Brooklyn. The winter of 1862-3 was spent by 
his regiment in and around Washington, which was then 
threatened by the rebel forces ; but the life of comparative 
inaction was interrupted by the siege of Suffolk Va., by 
General Loxgstreet. Colonel Woodford's command 
was sent to Suffolk, and subsequently to the Peninsula, 
under General Dix. He afterward served in the 11th 
Corps, and was then transferred to the department of the 
South where he won for himself distinguished military 
honors. 

When General Gillmore began his extensive operations 
against Charleston, Colonel Woodford, with his regiment, 



20 LIFE SKETCHES. 

took a prominent part in them. In the spring of 1864, he 
commanded the several forts on Morris Island, which 
shelled the city of Charleston so destructively. During 
the summer of that year, he acted as Judge-Advocate- 
General of the department of the South, and, in the early 
autumn, was intrusted with the supervision of the exchange 
of prisoners at Charleston Harbor. But staff duty was 
not congenial to his taste, and as Sherman neared the 
coast, he applied for leave to rejoin his regiment, and par- 
ticipate in the operations undertaken by General Foster, 
against the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. His 
request was granted, and he was actively engaged in the 
movements which followed. 

At the battle of Honey Hill, Coosawhatchie and Tula- 
finny, his bravery was conspicuous, and received marked 
commendation from his superiors. His men were always 
willing to follow Avhere their plucky colonel led. 

Just before the surrender of Lee, and after active 
movements had ceased on the coast, Colonel Woodford 
was appointed Provost-Marshal-General of the Southern 
Department ; and, a short time after, was made the first 
Military Governor of Charleston. It was in this city that 
the rebellion was conceived and born. The populace, at 
the time of the breaking up of the gigantic cabal, were 
filled with hatred and disloyalty. The aristocratic South- 
rons illy submitted to the dictation of a Northern man. 
Disloyal citizens on the one hand, and rebel deserters and 
<l<'sj>(>radoes on the other, smouldering buildings, half- 
famished and homeless families, the absence of civil law, 
and a chaotic state of society, all conspired to bring into 
play the highest order of administrative capabilities. 

Under the authority of Colonel Woodford, these vol- 
canic elements were harmonized, much to the delight of 
those who had suffered by the reign of terror. By his 
courteous, but iron firmness, he soon convinced even the 



STEWART L. WOODFORD. 21 

disloyal that the best course for them was to submit quietly 
to the authority of the Military Governor, who had been 
placed over them by an outraged but vindicated govei'n- 
ment. Order was restored so perfectly at last, that ten 
thousand colored people, in the celebration of the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation, and weeks before the surrender of 
Lee, marched triumphantly through the principal streets 
of the city, with the flag of the Republic floating over 
them, with banners inscribed with mottoes commemorative 
of the termination of their bondage, and bearing a coffin 
emblematic of the death and burial of slavery. It is not 
to be supposed that the citizens relished this demonstra- 
tion, but the cool decision of Governor Woodford awed 
them into a state of outward submission ; and they well 
knew, that any molestation would have drawn upon them- 
selves summary punishment. 

For the remarkable administrative abilities displayed at 
this important junctm*e, he was made Chief of Staff, by 
Major-General Gillmore. While the city of Charleston 
was under Colonel Woodford's command, order prevailed 
on all sides ; the loyalist felt safe in the enjoyment of his 
privileges, and the secessionist was forced to admit that 
the colonel manifested tenacity of purpose to administer 
justice to all. It was while acting in this capacity that 
he was commissioned Brigadier-General by brevet, for 
meritorious services. 

Subsequently, he succeeded the gallant General Grover 
in command of the city of Savannah ; and his administra- 
tion in that city was also a complete success. 

Among the distinguishing acts of his course, was the 
practical assistance which he gave to the negroes in found- 
ing their schools and churches. On every hand he saw 
hundreds of colored people eager to be taught. They 
were a distinct and peculiar race that had been shut out 
from educational advantages for many generations ; and 



22 LIFE SKETCHES. 

he determined that every possible avenue should now be 
opened to them. How successfully he accomplished his 
purpose, the gratitude of the negroes testifies. He rees- 
tablished the police force, relighted the streets, and demon- 
strated that he was not only bravely just to the blacks, 
but wise and energetic in his management of all the civil 
affairs of the important city that had been confided to his 
control. 

General Woodford subsequently reassumed the position 
of Chief of Staff to the Department Commander ; and in 
August, 1S65, resigned his commission, and returning to 
his home in Brooklyn, resumed the practice of the law. 

In October of the same year, he was unanimously nomi- 
nated by the Republican party in New York city as their 
candidate for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; but 
he decided not to change his residence from Brooklyn 
(to which city he had moved his family soon after he 
entered the army), and declined the nomination. 

In the autumn of 18G6, and after a canvass in which he 
visited nearly every county in the State, General Wood- 
ford was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York, by 
the Union Republican party, receiving a majority of 15,024 
votes. The Democratic party were confident of the success 
of their candidate, Mr. Pruyst, but the ballot of the peo- 
ple gave a sweeping verdict in favor of General Woodford. 

The Lieutenant-Governor combines, with an agreeable 
appearanceand pleasing address, the graces and polish of 
a gentleman. He is a. cultivated scholar, and a close and 
logical lawyer. His eloquence is of the highest order, 
and liis presence before an audience is strangely magnetic, 
as thousands can testify who have heard him from the 
political rostrum and in the court-room. 

He is the youngest man that has ever been President of 
the Senate of New York, being now but thirty-one years 
of acre. 



FRANCIS C. BARLOW, 

SECRETARY OP STATE. 

A slight, almost delicate form, yet as closely knit as 
that of a deer ; a pair of strange, grey eyes ; a well-devel- 
oped, classical head, a firm expressive mouth, giving the 
features, in repose, an air of sadness ; and you have an 
outline of General Barlow's physique. Francis C. Bar- 
low was born in Brooklyn, New York, on the 19th of 
October, 1834, of New England parentage. When he was 
two years of age, his parents removed to Massachusetts, in 
the vicinity of Boston, Avhere, with the exception of tAVO 
years spent in New Hampshire, he resided until he entered 
Harvard. He prepared for college at one of the institu- 
tions in Cambridge, and was matriculated at Harvard in 
1851. During his collegiate course he was distinguished 
for his fine scholarship, graduating with the honors of his 
class, in July, 1855. In the month of September follow- 
ing, he went to the city of New York, where he was very 
successfully engaged in teaching private classes, for the 
purpose of preparing young men for college and the count- 
ing-room. In the autumn of 185G, Mr. Barlow entered 
the law office of William Curtis Noyes, Esq., where he 
remained until the spring of 1857. He was then employed 
as a clerk by Messrs. Wheatox & Livingston, attorneys 
and counselors-at-law, also reporting law cases for the 
"Tribune," and Avas admitted to the bar in 1858. In the 
month of January, 1859, he formed a partnership with 
George Bliss, Jr., which, in all of its relations, was most 
satisfactory to both parties. But the professional duties 
of his life were interrupted by the rebellion, in 1803. The 
very day which heralded the news of the assault on Sum- 
ter, found him ready, at almost a moment's warning, to 



24 LIFE SKETCHES. 

leave his business and his home, in order to defend the 
principles which had found such deep root in his heart. 
He hated servitude in all of its forms ; and he loved, both 
by nature and education, all the foundation precepts of 
liberty in their highest and broadest sense; and he was 
prepared to go beyond the simple entertainment of these 
noble views ; he was willing to make any sacrifice, how- 
ever great, in order to maintain the eternal justice of the 
nation's cause. 

Although his friends knew how deeply he cherished his 
opinions, yet they were unprepared for his announcement 
that he would enter the ranks as a private soldier. He 
had bright prospects ahead in his profession ; but, though 
his attention was directed to them, he saw, above all, the 
danger of the country. 

"Wait," said some of his friends, "and we will get a 
commission for you." 

" A commission for me ? " Avas his inquiry. " I never 
handled a gun in my life ! " 

Without any further ceremony, he joined the 12th 
State Militia, on the 20th of April, 1861, which went out 
for three months. There was no flourish about this act. 
In an unostentatious manner, Mr. Barlow was enrolled as 
a private ; and, in the same quiet and determined way, he 
commenced a proud record. The next day, his regiment 
departed for Washington, in defense of the capital. While 
there in camp, he applied himself, in an assiduous manner, 
to the study of military treatises. Every leisure moment 
found him, book in hand, mastering the tactics. At the 
end of three or four weeks, he accepted the position of 
First Lieutenant, offered him by Colonel Butterfield, who 
fully appreciated his merits. 

At the expiration of the period for which he had enlisted, 
he returned to New York. But not feeling that his whole 
duty to his country had been discharged, after the organ- 



FRANCIS C. BARLOW. 25 

ization of the 61st regiment, New York Volunteers, he 
was selected and appointed as its Lieutenant-Colonel ; and 
thus opened another chapter in his military course. He 
had commenced at the bottom of the ladder ; but he saw 
what many so often fail to perceive, that all one has to 
do is to put one foot above the other, and the ascent 
must be sure. Moreover, he was not satisfied with being 
competent for performing the duties of a lieutenant- 
colonelcy. The same spirit that had, a short time before, 
commenced to learn the simple evolutions of a company, 
looked ahead, for beyond the elementary principles of the 
science of war, to the grand sweep of brigades, divisions 
and corps. 

His regiment was assigned to General McClellan's 
army; and during the autumn and winter months of 1861, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Barlow was studying the tactics, as 
he had leisure, with a resolute will. When the grand 
army moved down in front of Yorktown he was promoted 
to the rank of Colonel. 

In a few days, transpired the fierce battle of Fair Oaks, 
in which the valor of our soldiers was put to a severe 
trial. During this engagement, Colonel Barlow's regi- 
ment lost its color-bearer, and four of the color-guard ; and 
General Howard, having lost an arm, gave the command 
of his brigade to Colonel Barlow. He fearlessly led the 
troops into the midst of the slaughter, now encouraging 
by his words, now holding them firmly in their positions 
by his authority and his presence, never permitting them 
to swerve from points already gained. His bravery won 
for him a single star upon his shoulder. He distinguished 
himself in the same gallant manner during the bloody 
" seven days' fight." The next conflict in which he took 
a prominent part was at Antietam. On this occasion, he 
was wounded in the breast and groin. His life was des- 
paired of by the surgeons ; but his Avife, noble and faithful, 
4 



26 LIFE SKETCHES. 

nursed him with a womanly tenderness which saved his 
life. As soon as he recovered, he led a brigade into the 
bloody battle of Chancellorsville. When the waves of 
the rebellion dashed upon the southern slopes of Pennsyl- 
vania, General Barlow led the same brigade into the 
horrible engagement. Without a twinge of physical fear, 
in the midst of shell and cannon, he rode in front of the 
line, inspiriting the troops, and exhorting them to remain 
unyielding. Wheeling squadrons, carrying slaughter in 
their courses, swept on like mighty engines of destruction, 
and still the slight form of General Barlow was seen 
dashing from one point of attack to another. At last, the 
fearless rider fell from his horse, wounded by four musket- 
balls. The great agony of the fight went on, and the 
brave General lay on the field, exposed to the fire of friend 
and foe. While in this condition, he was again twice 
wounded. When night terminated the battle, he was 
found by the rebel General Early, who, while passing- 
over the field, discovered his rank by the star upon his 
shoulder. Supposing him to be dead, General Early 
paused with his staff officers, to ascertain his name, 
remarking that nothing could be done for the dead Gene- 
ral. Feebly raising his head, General Barlow gave 
Early that terse, gritty reply, which was afterward, at 
the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, so fully verified : 
" I will live to fight you yet, General ! " 

The assiduous attentions of Mrs. Barlow, who had 
accompanied the army, succoring the wounded in hospital 
and field, again brought her husband from the valley of 
death. We would further add that this noble wife — a 
most accomplished and beautiful woman — devoted herself 
to the cause in hospital service, attending ujjon sick and 
wounded men, who learned to Avhisper her name with the 
reverence which attaches to a superior being. In this 
work of heroic self-sacrifices, she contracted the hospital 



FRANCIS C. BARLOW*. 27 

fever and died, as truly and nobly a martyr to country as 
the bravest soldier who ever fell on battle-field. 

Resuming his command in 1864, he participated in the 
battles of the Wilderness. In one of these engagements 
he captured a whole division of General Early's corps, 
under the command of General Johxsox, and forty pieces 
of artillery. The brilliancy of these exploits is unsur- 
passed. In front of Petersburgh, he was promoted to a 
Major-Generalship. Taking a prominent part in the 
closing conflict before Richmond, he had the satisfaction 
of seeing the great army of the Confederacy vanquished 
by the determined legions of the North. 

In the autumn of 1865, General Barlow was nominated 
by the Union party of the State of New York, as candi- 
date for the office of Secretary of State, against General 
Slocum, who had been nominated by the Democrats. All 
will remember the exciting canvass of that campaign. 
Every important point of the great issue was discussed 
from the rostrum, in city and hamlet ; and both parties 
bent all their energies to the accomplishment of a success- 
ful finale. The result was the election of General Bar- 
low by a majority of 27,491. 

Prompt in his executive abilities, he performs his official 
duties in the same decisive manner which he displayed in 
the army. He remains firm to the rights which he defended 
with his sword; and the laconic force of his orders on the 
battle-field, characterizes the expression of his political 
opinions. 



THOMAS HILLHOUSE, 

COMPTROLLER. 

Thomas Hillhouse, the present Comptroller, is de- 
scended from one of the most honorable and distinguished 
families in the country. Its first representative in the 
United States, an Irish Protestant minister, settled in 
New England, in 1720. 

His eldest son, William, held important positions under 
the Colonial Government of Connecticut, and, after the 
Revolution, was a member of the Council, or Upper House 
of the Legislating, and a County Judge. He married 
Sarah Griswold, sister of the first Governor of Connec- 
ticut, of that name. Of the six sons of William, James, 
the eldest, was a member of Congress from 1790 to 1796, 
and was then elected to the Senate of the United States, 
in which body he served with distinction, and without 
interruption, until 1810, when he resigned to take charge 
of the Connecticut School Fund, of which he had been 
appointed Commissioner. On the election of Mr. Jeffer- 
son as President, he succeeded him as President of the 
Senate. 

Thomas, the youngest of the sons of William, and 
father of the Comptroller, emigrated to the State of New 
York in 1801, and established himself in business at what 
was then the village of Troy. A few years later, he pur- 
chased a farm, in the adjoining county of Albany, to 
which he removed in 1810. It was here that the subject 
of this sketch was born, March 10th, 1817. His boyhood 
may be dismissed with the remark, that it was made up 
of the usual incidents falling to the lot of persons in his 
situation of life. At the age of eighteen, while preparing 
for college, he was called home by the death of his father, 



THOMAS HILLHOUSE. 29 

to take charge of his affairs. Abandoning all thoughts of 
a profession, he devoted himself sedulously to the manage- 
ment of the family property. For the next ten years he 
was widely known as an enthusiastic, hard-working, and 
influential farmer, serving, for several years, as an efficient 
officer of the State Agricultural Society, and regularly 
attending its public exhibitions. In 1851, he removed to 
Geneva, in the county of Ontario, where, with the excep- 
tion of the time occupied in public duties, he has since 
resided. 

The subsequent connection of Mr. Hillhouse with public 
affairs, grew out of the course of President Buchanan's 
administration on the question of the extension of slavery 
over the free Territories of the West. It was this consid- 
eration that determined many thoughtful men, not before 
actively connected with the political organizations of the 
day, to unite in a determined effort for the overthrow 
of the dominant party. In the Presidential campaign of 
185G, Mr. Hillhouse took a conspicuous part, and it was 
to his active labors at that time, in the county of his resi- 
dence, that he owed his election to the State Senate in 
1859. The attention of the Legislature, the following year, 
was principally occupied with questions of local concern ; 
and the sound practical wisdom which Mr. Hillhouse 
brought to the consideration of the various and complicated 
interests of the State, soon gave him a commanding influ- 
ence in that body. Before the assembling of the Senate, 
in January, 1861, the plot for the dissolution of the Union 
had been developed, and it had become apparent to the 
most incredulous minds that the country would soon be in 
the throes of a revolution. It was under the full convic- 
tion that the storm could not be averted, that Mr. Hill- 
house, on the first day of the session, moved a resolution 
for the appointment of a Select Committee on National 
Affairs ; and, as Chairman of that Committee, he subse- 



30 LIFE SKETCHES. 

quently brought in an able report, denouncing the course 
of the Southern States as a revolutionary attempt to sub- 
vert the government, which, if persisted in, was to be met 
by a coercion of arms, and declaring that the State of New 
York was prepared to support the General Government 
with her material as well as her moral power. But the 
march of events was more rapid than the proceedings of 
Legislative bodies, and the report and accompanying reso- 
lutions were still under consideration when the attack on 
Sumter called the people to arms, and transferred the 
questions at issue, from the arena of debate to the arbitra- 
ment of the sword. 

The Legislature adjourned on the 17th of April, 1861; 
and, in July of that year, the position of Adjutant-General 
of the State was tendered to Mr. Hillhouse, and he at once 
accepted it. In entering upon the discharge of its duties, 
without previous experience, he manifested his faith in the 
proposition that much of the mystery which unprofessional 
minds attach to a subject, exists only in the imagination, 
and that a determined purpose will go far to remove the 
most formidable difficulties. 

It is almost impossible to over-estimate the value of 
the labors of Adjutant-General Hillhouse, to the State 
and the nation. He strove with an assiduity and ability 
rarely equaled in the public service, to infuse into the 
organization of the military arm of the State, thorough 
efficiency and preparation for the work in hand. That he 
succeeded, the valor and exploits of the volunteers from 
the State of New York in the national army, fully 
attest. 

The connection of Mr. Hillhouse with the military 
service, terminated with the close of Governor Morgan's 
second term; and he was without official employment, 
from that time until 1865, when he was elected to the 
office he now holds. 



THOMAS HILLHOUSE. 31 

He has held the office of Comptroller for one year, but, 
in that time, he has manifested his eminent ability and 
great fitness for the position. He brings to the discharge 
of its arduous duties, a breadth of comprehension and thor- 
ough appreciation of the interests, dignity and well-being 
of a great State, which preeminently entitle him to the 
appellation — a statesman. His paper on the sources of 
revenue and the powers of the State and national govern- 
ment, indicates a capacity for usefulness in the public 
service, rarely surpassed. 

Politically, Mr. Hilliiouse has acted with the Repub- 
lican party from its earliest history. Being a firm believer 
in the supremacy of the government of the United States, 
and convinced that it is clothed with the most ample 
powers to meet every emergency in public affairs, he was 
enabled to give to the extraordinary measures of that 
government, during the war, an intelligent and valuable 
support, all the more earnest that it was not inconsistent 
with his honest convictions as to the extent of its juris- 
diction. Some time before the passage of the act of Con- 
gress " To enroll the national forces," he had expressed the 
opinion that, as an incident to the power " to raise and 
support armies," Congress could adopt the means of com- 
pulsory service ; and, after the passage of the act, he 
defended it in a series of articles, widely circulated, which 
went very far toward settling the controversy. These 
articles were quoted in Congress, and everywhere referred 
to as disposing of a subject which had provoked much 
bitter discussion. 



JOSEPH HOW LAND, 

STATE TREASURER. 

Joseph Howland was born in the city of New York, 
on the 3d of December, 1834. He is the son of Samuel 
Howland, Esq., of the firm of Howland & Aspinwall. 
His mother was the daughter of the late John Hone, 
Esq., a distinguished merchant of the city of New York. 
His lineage can be traced directly to the Puritans, his 
ancestor, John Howland, being one of the earnest adven- 
turers Avho embarked in the Mayflower. 

General Howland received all the advantages of a lib- 
eral education, through private schools and tutors; and also 
enjoyed the privileges of nine years of travel in Europe 
and America. Being of a delicate constitution, he sought 
to improve his health by retirement from city life ; there- 
fore, about ten years ago, he removed to a farm, on the 
east bank of the Hudson, a little north of the Highlands, 
in the town of Fishkill, where he has an extended view 
of mountain and river scenery, and where the invigorating 
air has done very much to render him more robust and 
healthy. There he is engaged in the cultivation of his 
extensive lands, and in various works of improvement, to 
the supervision of which he devotes a large portion of his 
time, when not engaged in official duties. There, in the 
enjoyment of an ample fortune, and the society of his 
estimable wife (who was the daughter of Charles W. 
"Woolsev, Esq., of New York city), surrounded by every- 
thing calculated to render life attractive, he seeks to make 
himself useful by relieving the wants of the poor, and 
doing much to promote the public welfare. He has 
erected, in the vicinity of his residence, upon the site of 
the former district school house, an edifice of rare archi- 



JOSEPH HOWLAND. 33 

tcctural beauty, a portion of which is designed as a 
school house for the district, and the remainder as a chapel 
for public worship. This building cost over fourteen 
thousand dollars. In it, assembles, every Sabbath, a large 
Sunday School, of which General Howlaxd is the Super- 
intendent ; and there religious services are regularly held. 

When the rebel organization first made an assault upon 
one of the United States forts, Mr. Howl and was ani- 
mated by a feeling of exalted patriotism. His first and 
strongest impulse was to offer his seiwices in defense of his 
country. And what wonder that he did so? What 
wonder that the Puritan blood coursed through its chan- 
nels with indignation, when the Union was betrayed and 
insulted ? His whole lineage had been uncompromisingly 
true to the Republic : could he prove false to the pure sen- 
timents of his forefathers ? He had an attractive home, 
made dear to him by many associations, and presided over 
by a refined and intelligent wife ; he possessed a large for- 
tune, which afforded him means for gratifying his tastes ; 
he had occupations which were congenial to him ; and, he 
was the center of hosts of friends. Many persons would 
have preferred to have simply used their wealth in behalf 
of their country — and with great credit, too — but Mr. 
Rowland and his wife recognized the priceless worth of 
our institutions, and they were willing to forego the 
enjoyments which had so long been at their command, 
and to consecrate themselves, as well as their wealth, to the 
aid of their government. Therefore, the husband bound 
on the equipage for military service, and the wife donned 
the costume appropriate for a woman who was willing 
to spend long, th'esome hours in the hospital wards. 

Mr. Howland first entered the service, on the 10th of 
May, 1861, in the capacity of Adjutant of the 16th Regi- 
ment, New York Volunteers, Colonel Da vies command- 
ing ; and subsequently served as Acting Adjutant-General. 



34 LIFE SKETCHES. 

His military abilities were soon tested, in the calamitous 
conflict of Bull Run, in July, 1861, on which occasion he 
exhibited qualities of coolness in changing the troops from 
point to point, which compared favorably with the acts of 
veteran soldiers. On the 16th of September, 1861, he was 
commissioned Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers, 
ranking as Captain. On the promotion of Colonel Davies, 
which took place on the 7th of March, 1862, Captain 
Howl and was appointed Colonel of the 16th Regiment 
N. Y. Vols. There was an unanimous desire, on the part 
of the officers of the regiment, that this promotion should 
be made, and Generals Slocum and Franklin added their 
hearty recommendations. Sometimes men are tried soon 
after they are placed in new positions ; and it is these 
sudden emergencies which demonstrate whether or not a 
person is equal to fiery ordeals. Not long after he took 
command of the 16th Regiment, the battle of West Point 
was fought, in which his regiment was engaged through- 
out the day. Amid the slaughter and din of the san- 
guinary conflict, his men remained unyielding, filled with 
confidence in their leader. 

Three or four months after this, at the battle of Gaines' 
Mill, his regiment was stationed at a dangerous point. 
Occupying the right of the line, it was very much exposed 
during the engagement; but Colonel Howland daunt- 
lessly led his men into the hottest of the fight. The 
enemy had taken two of our guns, but they were not per- 
mit ted to hold them any great length of time, for Colonel 
Howland charged with his regiment, and retook them at 
greal hazard. In the effort, he was severely wounded ; 
but, though painfully exhausted, it was not until the close 
of the battle that he left his saddle. This wound totally 
unfitted him for active duty; and his otherwise failing 
health compelled him to return home. But the call of his 
country was still ringing in his ears ; and, against the 



JOSEPH HOWL AND. 35 

judgment of his friends, he soon returned to the scenes of 
war. It was apparent, however, that his physical system 
was so impaired, that he could not bear the fatigue inci- 
dent to camp life. Therefore, he was obliged, with many 
regrets, to resign his position in the army, where he had 
acquired many friends, and to return to the quiet of civil 
life. His regiment had the most unlimited confidence in 
him, upon all occasions, and found in him, a friend whose 
generous heart was full of sympathy for them. It is well 
known that, in the early months of the war, the govern- 
ment was unable to furnish all necessary articles to the 
soldiers. Colonel Rowland met this want by supplying 
his men with gaiters and rubber blankets, purchased at his 
own expense ; and, when his connection with the army 
ceased, he still remembered the soldiers in the field, and 
forwarded to them articles for their comfort and relief. 
His brilliant military record was duly recognized by Presi- 
dent Lincoln, who commissioned him Brigadier-General, 
for gallantry at the battle of Gaines' Mill, his commission 
to date from March 4th, 1864. We would mention the 
regard and kindness displayed by his noble wife, who took 
upon herself the duties of the hospitals, with all the hero- 
ism of a brave and Christian woman. 

General Howland has always ranked as a sound Repub- 
lican. He was elected, by his party, as State Treasurer, 
in November, 1865. He has never been an office-seeker; 
and the position which he now holds so creditably, was 
urged upon him by his political friends, strictly upon his 
personal merits. During the period in which he has been 
in office, he has made numerous accessions of friends, for 
none can know him but to admire him for his many vir- 
tues. Easy and affable in his manner, possessing excellent 
social qualities, he renders every one happy in his pres- 
ence, and commands the respect of the people, by his 
unstained integrity. 



JOHN H. MARTINDALE, 

ATTORNEY-GENERAL. 

John Henry Martindale was Tborn at Sandy Hill, in 
the county of Washington, N. Y., on the 20th of March, 
1815. His father, the Hon. Henry C. Martindale, 
was a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, a dis- 
tinguished citizen of the county of Washington, a man of 
literary tastes and culture, and of liberal education, by 
profession a lawyer, holding at intervals various public 
stations in the county, and for ten years a member of 
Congress from the Washington district, during the admin- 
istrations of Presidents Monroe, John Quincy Adams 
and Jackson. His mother, born in Manchester, Vermont 
— whose maiden name was Minerva Hitchcock — was a 
daughter of John Hitchcock, Esq., who, with his brothers 
Ashel, Isaac and Zira, settled in the town of Kingsbury, 
Washington county, near the conclusion of the revolu- 
tionary war. The burial ground in Kingsbury, set apart 
for the purpose by John Hitchcock, and where his 
remains and those of his father, and brothers Ashel and 
Isaac, and many of their descendants for four generations 
are now reposing, was long known in the neighborhood 
as " Squire John's Lot.'''' 

Mr. Martindale is a graduate of the Military Academy 
at West Point, having entered there in 1831, and gradu- 
ated with distinction, being third in his class, in 1835. He 
entered the army as Second Lieutenant on leaving the 
Academy, but resigned in March of the following year, to 
engage in more active pursuits. He immediately com- 
menced the study of the law, and in July, 1838, was 
admitted to the bar, and engaged in practice in Batavia, 
New York. In 1840 he was married, at Batavia, to Eme- 



JOHN H. MARTINDALE. 37 

line M. Holden, a daughter of Hinman Holden, Esq., 
one of the pioneers of Western New York, and for a long 
time a resident and a highly respected and influential citi- 
zen of Genesee county. In 1842, he was appointed District 
Attorney of Genesee county by the Court of Common 
Pleas, and held that office for the three following years. 
In 1847, at the first election under the new Constitution 
of 1846, he was chosen to the same office, and held it until 
the 1st of January, 1851. In the spring of 1851, he 
removed to the city of Rochester, and successfully prose- 
cuted his profession there, until the outbreak of the recent 
rebellion, when he promptly tendered his services to the 
Government, and was commissioned, in August, 1861, 
Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and Avas assigned to the 
command of the First Brigade of General Fitz John 
Porter's Division. His two brothers. Colonel Edward 
Martindale and Brevet Major F. E. Martindale, and 
his son, Lieutenant Edavard H. Martindale — composing 
every adult male member of his family — followed him 
into the military service. During the long period of 
inactivity following the battle of Bull Run, Genei-al Mar- 
tindale was diligently engaged in instructing and dis- 
ciplining his Brigade. When, at length, the campaign was 
opened at Yorktown, he, with his command, took part in 
all the battles and encounters which occurred on the Pen- 
insula, in the disastrous summer of 1862. At Yorktown, 
Hanover Court House, Gaines' Mill and Mechanicsville, 
the Brigade of General Martindale was conspicuous for 
the skillful manner in which it was handled, for its rapid 
movements to points of danger, and its great efficiency. 

His Brigade consisted, at various times, of Massachusetts, 
New York, Maine and Michigan regiments. The 18th 
and 22d Massachusetts, the 13th and 25th New York, the 
2d Maine and the 1st Michigan, being commanded by him 
before the ending of the Peninsula campaign. With the 



38 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Army of the Potomac, he and his Brigade lay waiting in 
the works before Washington, during the long inactivity 
of 1861 ; and with them he marched and fought upon the 
Peninsula, from Yorktown to Malvern and Harrison's Bar. 
In all that series of encounters, he bore an active part, 
especially at Yorktown, Hanover Court House, Gaines' 
Mill, Mechanicsville and Malvern. His Brigade endu- 
red its full share of exposure and struggle. 

At the battle of Hanover Court House, he showed 
marked military capacity. He took the dangerous respons- 
ibility of disposing his troops and putting them in peril- 
ous position, contrary to the orders of his superior officer. 
For while actually engaged fighting with the enemy, he 
received from General Fitz John" Porter, an order to 
retire and move toward the Court House, where the rest 
of General Porter's command had proceeded. It being 
manifest, however, that the Commanding General was 
entirely mistaken in the " situation " of the enemy, and 
that obedience to his orders would leave the whole line of 
march open to assault against the rear and left flank of the 
Union column, he remained with one regiment (the 2d 
Maine) to cover the line, and confront the whole force of 
the enemy. In this position, he was joined by a regiment 
(the 44th New York) which he had left behind to guard 
the approach of the enemy by a curving road, and which 
was then moving toward the Court House quite uncon- 
scious that General Porter had ordered his whole rear 
to be left exposed, and had thereby actually interposed, 
between that regiment and his main force, more than 4,000 
of the enemy. General Martindale Avas here joined by a 
fragment of the 25th New York, under Colonel Johnson, 
and two pieces of artillery, and by fortunate disposition 
of his force — not exceeding, all told, 1,000 men — held the 
whole strength of the enemy at bay, for nearly two hours. 
This was the only serious and perilous fighting in that 



JOHN H. MARTIXDALE. 39 

battle ; for when, at length, the main body of General 
Porter's command returned to the battle-field from the 
Court House (a distance of about four miles), the prepon- 
derance of force was so much in our favor, that the enemy 
scarcely offered a serious resistance, and was soon put to 
rout. 

Major-General Griffix, conspicuous in the campaign of 
the Peninsula, writes as follows of General Martixdale : 

' : Before Torktown; at Hanover, where we gained a complete 
victory (and the entire success was due to his exertions and judg- 
ment alone) ; at Gaines' Mill, where I recollect his earnest objec- 
tions to the positions of the different arms of service, and where, I 
believe, had the Commanding Officer listened to the proposed changes, 
the result would have been different; again, at Malvern, where his 
command was ably handled ; at these battles, from my own per- 
sonal observation of his conduct, comes my expressions of con- 
fidence." 

On the retreat from Malvern to Harrison's Bar, which 
happened in the night-time, and after a successful battle, 
a circumstance happened which led to unpleasant con- 
sequences. The army at Malvern had won a decided vic- 
tor}'. At nightfall they rested on their arms ; but, in the 
dead of night, they were aroused by the order to retreat. 
It was a black and rainy night. The fact was known and 
reported that the Commanding General of the army was 
on board of a gunboat, but subordinate commanders were 
not informed of the cause for the retreat, nor to what 
point they were to go, unless it might be Fortress Monroe 
itself. In the confusion of so sudden and so unexpected a 
retreat, the wounded and dying were left on the field, and 
many of the commands were titterly scattered. 

General Martixdale remained halted at the head of his 
column for two hours, endeavoring to preserve order ; but, 
at length, finding it impossible, gave the command to 
move forward. The largest part of his command in his 



40 LIFE SKETCHES. 

rear, without his knowledge, had already been started for- 
ward in the darkness, and was far in advance of him, by- 
command of a superior officer. He found himself immedi- 
ately mixed up in entire confusion in the promiscuous rout. 
Excited and indignant at this disorder and apparent deser- 
tion of the wounded, he exclaimed to some of his asso- 
ciate officers in language to. this effect : " Let us stay with 
the men and surrender, rather than abandon them." 

The retreat, however, was continued. On arriving at 
Harrison's Bar, he was taken sick with typhoid fever, 
owing to long exposure and want of food. In that con- 
dition he was brought to Washington, and lay there, 
hovering between life and death, at the house of a friend, 
from the middle of July till the latter part of August. 
During that time, while lying thus helpless, charges were 
preferred against him by General Fitz Johi* Porter, that 
he proposed to surrender his Brigade to the enemy on 
the retreat from Malvern. Whether these charges were 
founded in malice or not, they entirely perverted the 
whole idea of his sudden and unpremeditated expression 
on that occasion. Immediately upon recovering from his 
sickness, he demanded a court of inquiry at Washington. 
This court, composed of three general officers of the 
highest standing, entirely and promptly exonerated him 
from the charges, and reported that they were disjyroved 
by the prosecutor's own evidence. 

The Administration, immediately after, as if to mark 
their approbation of his conduct, appointed him Military 
Governor of Washington, a position of critical respons- 
ibility, and one requiring both military and civil ability 
of :i peculiar character. 

He was subsequently breveted Major-General of Volun- 
teers by commission from the President and Senate, for 
gallant conduct at the battle of Malvern Hill. He was 
appointed to the position oi.' Military Governor, in Novem- 



JOHX H. MARTINDALE. 41 

ber, 1862, and held the balances between the rival juris- 
dictions, civil and military of the city, with an equal, a 
firm, and an instructed hand, until the first of May, 1864, 
when he was relieved at his own request, and ordered to 
join the Army of the James, at Fortress Monroe, under 
the command of Major-General Butler. 

At the movement of this army toward Petersburgh, 
General Martindale was placed in command of a 
division, and participated in the battle of Swift Creek, 
and in the movement toward Richmond, and the battle of 
Drury's Bluff or Proctor's Creek. He moved with his 
division, being the second of the 18th Corps, under Gen- 
eral W. F. Smith, and joined the Army of the Potomac, 
on the 1st of June, 1864, at Cold Harbor. He entered 
immediately into the action at that place, on that day, 
and was also in the engagements which continued there, 
at intervals, until the 12th of June. In the severe assault 
of the 3d of June, he was in the thickest of the battle 
with his division, and much exposed — one-third of his 
command being killed or wounded within the space of an 
hour. He moved from Cold Harbor with the 18th Corps, 
in advance of the Army of the Potomac, and was present 
at the assault on Petersburgh, on the 15 th of June, when 
the outer defenses northeast of that city, were carried 
by the 18th Corps, under command of General Smith. 
On the following day his division was again in action, 
cooperating with the 9th Corps. On the 18th, he com- 
manded a Provisional Corps, composed of two divisions 
of the 18th, and McNeil's division of the 6th Corps, and 
gained the advanced line on the Appomattox, held by our 
forces until the final movement in the following spring. 
On the retirement of General W. F. Smith, General Mar- 
tindale took command of the 18th Army Corps, and 
retained it till he was totally disabled by sickness, and was 
compelled to relinquish his command and resign his com- 



42 LIFE SKETCHES. 

mission. With what reluctance his resignation was 
accepted, may be inferred from the following indorsement 
by his Commanding General on his letter of resignation : 

In tiie Field, August 9, 1864. 
Approved with regret. I would wish that a brave, energetic and 
efficient officer could be kept in the service. I trust his health may 
be restored, and have, therefore, extended his leave of absence for 
twenty days, trusting that in the mean time, with renewed health, 
General Martixdale may recall his resignation. 

BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 

Major- General Commanding. 

Broken down by the labors and exposure of three years' 
service, Gen. Martindale was compelled to retire; yet, in 
his retreat to civil life, he was mindful of his country's 
welfare, and lifted up his voice for the reelection of 
Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency. On the 4th of 
July, 1865, he addressed his fellow-townsmen at Roch- 
ester, urging the adoption of the amendment of the 
Constitution as the final destruction of slavery. 

Before the formation of the Republican party, General 
Martixdale was, like his father, a Whig and an enthusi- 
astic admirer and supporter of " Harry Clay." He was 
a member of the Convention which organized the Repub- 
lican party, and has ever since cooperated with that party, 
and been recognized as one of the earnest members of it. 
He was elected Attorney-General of this State in Novem- 
ber, 1865, and entered on the duties of the office on the 
1st of January following. 

General Martixdale ranks among the ablest laAvyers of 
this State. His powers of analysis, his comprehensive 
Legal knowledge and his familiarity with human nature, 
combine 1<> render him a skillful attorney; and his 
graceful delivery, his burning sarcasm and his artistic 
delineations coupled with his appeal to the sympathies, 
are all powerful aids which arc completely at his command. 



J. PLATT GOODSELL, 

STATE ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR. 

Mr. Goodsell is the eldest son of the late Dr. Thomas 
Goodsell, and by his mother, who was a Livingston, he 
is connected with the families of that name in the eastern 
and other portions of this State. He was born at Utica, 
Oneida county, New York, and has continued to be a 
resident of that county to the present time. Mr. Goodsell 
received his earlier education at the Utica Academy, and 
completed his studies in Massachusetts, entering early in 
life, into the practice of civil engineering. 

His first service in connection with the public works of 
the State, began in 1840, under the supervision of the late 
distinguished engineer, Holmes Hutchinson, in the survey 
for the enlargement of the Erie Canal, and extended 
through the years 1841 and 1842. The years 1843 and 
1844 were spent in Mobile, Alabama, for the benefit of his 
health, which had become impaired. While in the South, 
he occasionally practiced surveying and engineering. On 
his return to his native State, he was appointed, in 1846, 
by Nathaniel Jones, who was Canal Commissioner at 
that time, as Second Assistant Engineer, and in 184G, 
under the new Constitution, on the active resumption of 
the public works, was promoted through the several grades 
of Assistant. In 1 850 he Avas appointed Resident Engineer, 
to be located at Albany. His labors, at this point, for the 
enlargement of the Erie Canal, and the plans which he 
originated and adopted for a cheaper class of mechanical 
structures, especially those of the aqueducts of the Mohawk 
Valley, are all well known to the profession. 

Major Goodsell was removed from the office of Resi- 
dent Engineer, on account of political changes, in 1853, 



44 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and during the same year, was appointed Chief Engineer 
of the Cape Fear and Deep River Railroad, in North 
Carolina. He was constantly engaged in the surveys, 
locations and constructions of that road during 1854, 1855, 
and 1856. While thus employed, he was, without solici- 
tation on his part, appointed hy the Canal Board, Division 
Engineer on the New York State Canals, being located, 
hy the State Engineer and Surveyor, on the Eastern 
Division at Albany. During the period from 1856 to 1861, 
this Division of the Erie Canal, together with the north- 
ern portion of the Black River Canal, and the improve- 
ments of the Black River, was completed and ready for 
use, as were also the combined locks on the Champlain 
Canal, at Waterford and Whitehall. The promptitude and 
competency with which these works were conducted, were 
attributable to Major Goodsell, who, feeling that his office 
was no sinecure, was faithful in his superintendence of the 
improvements which he had in charge. But, in 1861, he 
was again removed from office, by the Canal Board, 
subject as he was to the fluctuations of politics ; and, in 
1862, was reappointed Division Engineer, for the Middle 
Division, located at Syracuse. He Avas holding that position 
when nominated and elected by the Republican party to 
the office which he now holds. As a proof of the esteem 
with which Mr. Goodsell is held by the citizens of his 
own town, we would mention that he was twice elected to 
the office of Supervisor, in which capacity, with commend- 
atory promptness, he carried his town through the differ- 
ent calls for volunteers, made in 1S63 and 1864. 

About the year 1850, a society of engineers was formed, 
called "The New York State Institution of Civil Engi- 
neers. 1 ' This association had a central office in the State 
Hall, at Albany. Mr. Goodsell was a leading member of 
the organization, and for many years, one of its executive 
officers. Most of the prominent engineers of the State were 



J. PLATT GOODSELL. 45 

among its members ; and, within its rooms, the walls of 
which were covered with plans, were discussed many- 
important questions relating to canals, railroads, aqueducts 
and bridges. A monthly paper was also issued by the 
Secretary of the Society. But the association long since 
passed out of existence, because it did not receive that 
aid from the public, to which it was entitled. 

Mr. Goodsell has always been respected for his moral 
worth as well as for his professional ability ; and he has 
enjoyed, in no small measure, the esteem and confidence of 
the officers connected with the public works of the State, 
not only on account of his boldness and force of character, 
but also for his peculiar practical knowledge of matters 
connected with his profession. His energies have mostly 
been directed to canal affairs, and thei'efore he is enabled 
to readily comprehend the many embarrassing questions 
which frequently arise in the execution of his labors. 
Possessing quick perceptions, he rapidly draws his infer- 
ences, and seldom changes his conclusions. There is 
nothing erratic in his composition ; on the contrary, he has 
an even temperament which rarely subjects any man to 
severe criticism. Mr. Goodsei/l is self-made and self- 
reliant ; and his services cannot fail to be of great useful- 
ness to the public at large. 



PATRICK H. JONES, 

CLERK OF THE COURT OF APPEALS. 

Mr. Jones is a gentleman of slight proportions, but 
plainly possessing powers of great endurance. He has 
a mild, calculating eye, a pleasant face, and a courteous, 
modest mien. He was born in the county of Westmeath, 
Ireland, November 20th, 1830. At the age of seven, he 
was sent to a grammar school in the city of Dublin, 
where he remained for three years; and, in 1840, at the 
age of ten, he came to this country with his parents, who 
settled on a farm in the county of Cattaraugus, New 
York. He was sent by his parents to the Union School 
at Ellicottville, then presided over by Professor Lowell 
of Middlebury College, Vermont, where he was well 
grounded in the common branches of school studies. 
In 1850, being then twenty years of age, he became 
connected with a leading journal of this State, and 
traveled through the Western States as its correspond- 
ent. He subsequently became the local editor of the 
"Buffalo Republic," and one of the editors of the "Buf- 
falo Sentinel." 

The pursuits of a journalist do not appear to have 
been congenial to the tastes of Mr. Jones, for, in 
1853, he began the study of law in the office of Hon. 
Addison G. Rice, at Ellicottville, N. Y. Three years 
afterward, Mr. Jones was admitted to the bar, and 
commenced the practice of law in partnership with 
Mr. Rice ; he continued this partnership until the out- 
break of the Rebellion, when, like so many of his 
profession, he left the desk of a lawyer to enter the 
army, in which he was destined to rise to distinction. 
Much of the interest of this sketch, of course, centers 



PATRICK H. JONES. 47 

in his military career. It was his bravery which brought 
him so early into prominence, and secured his elevation 
by the voice of the people to high official position, as 
a spontaneous testimonial of approbation and thankful- 
ness for services rendered to his country. 

He entered the service in 1861, as Second Lieutenant in 
the 37th Regiment, New York Volunteers, commanded by 
Colonel J. II. McCunn, now one of the judges of the 
Superior Court of New York city. His regiment was 
attached to the army of General McClellan, and Lieu- 
tenant Jones served throughout the whole Campaign of 
the Peninsula, and was present at the battles of Williams- 
burgh, Fair Oaks, and the battles of the celebrated 
retreat to Harrison's Landing. For gallant conduct 
during this campaign, Lieutenant Jones was success- 
ively promoted Adjutant and Major of his regiment, 
before the close of the Peninsula Campaign. That the 
services of Lieutenant Jones' regiment, during these bat- 
tles, were important, and the fighting severe, will appear 
from the fact that it formed a part of the command of the 
gallant Kearney, who fell at Chantilly. Major Jones 
was commissioned Colonel of the 154th Regiment, New 
York Volunteers, in October 1862. This regiment was 
raised in the counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. 
Upon its arrival at Washington, Colonel Jones assumed 
command of it, having just left his old regiment, the 37th, 
in which he had so gallantly earned his promotion. He 
soon afterward reported to General Sigel, whose command 
at that time, formed a part of the Army of the Potomac. 
Upon the retirement of General Burnside in the new 
organization of the army, Colonel Jones' regiment was a 
portion of the command of General O. O. Howard, under 
whom he fought at Chancellorsville, where he fell severely 
wounded, fighting amidst the rout of his corps. He fell 
into the enemy's hands during the battle, but was soon 



48 LIFE SKETCHES. 

after exchanged. In the mean time, and -while he was 
recovering from his wounds, General Howard's corps, the 
11th, and Slocum's, the 12th, was ordered to the west 
under Hooker, to relieve the starving army of Thomas at 
Chattanooga, recently driven by Bragg from the field 
of Chickamauga. Colonel Jones rejoined his regiment the 
day before the battle of Chattanooga, having hastened 
thither as soon as the nature of his wounds would admit, 
and thus had the honor of being present at that great 
battle which effectually turned the tide of rebel victory in 
the west, and plucked from Bragg the laurels won at 
Chickamauga. Soon after, the corps of Howard and 
Slocum were consolidated by order of General Grant, and 
formed thenceforth the 20th corps under General Hooker. 
In the new organization, Colonel Jones was assigned with 
his regiment to the division of General J. W. Geary 
(present Governor of Pennsylvania), a sagacious and skill- 
ful officer. He commanded a brigade under, General 
Geary, during the terrible and glorious campaign of 
Atlanta, and in the great march of Sherman to the Atlan- 
tic; and entered Savannah in triumph, on the 22d of 
December, 1864, in the van of the army. It is well known 
that General Geary's vigilance was rewarded on the 
occasion, by the discovery of the evacuation of the city 
by the enemy. He entered Savannah while the rest of 
the army were sleeping. Colonel Jones was stationed 
with his brigade in the city. For services during the cam- 
paigns of Chattanooga and Atlanta, he was promoted to 
the rank of Brigadier-General, upon the recommendation 
of Generals Hooker and Howard, approved by General 
Sherman himself After the great review at Washington, 
active service being over, he resigned his commission and 
retired to civil life. He recommenced the practice of law, 
on his return home. He was elected on the Union Repub- 
lican ticket of 18G5, to the position of Clerk of the Court 



PATRICK H. JONES. 49 

of Appeals, and has, since January 1st, 1866, been dis- 
charging the duties of that office. Last summer General 
Jones removed to New York city, where he now is, when 
not engaged in official duties. 

Such is a short account of the interesting history of this 
gentleman. So many men of the present day, fresh from 
the fields of strife, are worthy of admiration, that it seems 
almost invidious to eulogize any particular one ; but we 
cannot refrain from adding that Mr. Jones' course, from 
boyhood to the present time, has been marked by integrity 
of purpose and bravery of spirit. Born in a land where 
the oppression of hundreds of yeai's has not been able to 
crush out the longings of the people for liberty, and 
coming to a country where every man is a sovereign, and 
where eagerness for distinction, wealth and power, is 
remarkable, he has, in reality, " won his way " in a praise- 
worthy manner. 

1 



NATHANIEL S. BENTON, 

AUDITOR OF THE CANAL DEPARTMENT. 

There is a class of mind pervading the New England 
States, which is unflinching in emergencies, and uncom- 
promising in integrity. Taking upon itself the character- 
istics of its rugged surroundings, it stands out in as clear 
relief as the granite mountains. ■ Its influence is felt from 
the pines of Maine to the bayous of the South. One 
meets it in the thoroughfares of the metropolis, and 
on the pioneer lines of our frontiers — firm, unyielding, 
honest ! The subject of this sketch belongs to this class. 
His native State seems to have imparted to him much of 
the sterling worth which she gave to her stern settlers. 

Nathaniel S. Benton was born in Westmoreland, 
New Hampshire, on the 19th of February, 1792. When 
he was four years of age, his parents removed, with their 
family, to the small town of Fryburgh, situated in the 
western part of Maine which was then a Province. Here, 
Mr. Benton attended the village Academy, being in- 
structed, awhile, by Daniel Webster, who was principal 
of that institution. During the winter of 1812, he was 
engaged in teaching; and, in the spring, he again resumed 
his studies. But the sound of war was filling the land ; 
the country was calling for troops to defend the frontiers. 
Filled with a sense of patriotism, Mr. Benton abandoned 
his books, and enlisted, as a private, in the 34th Regiment, 
United States Infantry. But a short time elapsed before 
he was appointed Ensign ; and, as soon as he reported 
himself at Portland, which was the head-quarters of his 
regiment, lie received the commission of a Lieutenant. 
He remained here with his company, doing garrison duty 
at Fort Preble, until the succeeding fall, when his regiment 



NATHANIEL S. BENTON. 51 

joined Hampton's army, at Cumberland Head. In that 
campaign he acted as Adjutant of the 1st Light Corps, 
which was commanded by Major Josiah Snelling, of the 
old 4th United States Infantry, of Tippecanoe and 
Brownstown celebrity. Major John E. Wool, then of 
the 29th United States Infantry, now Major-General 
Wool, of the regular army, commanded the 2d Light 
Corps. Mr. Benton participated, with heroism, in the 
actions which took place on that frontier, while he was in 
the service. He also seiwed as Judge-Advocate at two 
general courts-martial, while the army was in winter quar- 
ters, at Plattsburgh, in 1814. 

At the termination of the war, he began the study of 
law, in the office of his uncle, Mr. A. G. Britton, in the 
town of Orford, New Hampshire ; and, early in the year 
1816, he left that place and went to Little Falls, New 
York, where he continued his studies in the office of G. 
H. Feeter, Esq. Near the close of the next year, he was 
made Justice of the Peace by the Council of Appointment, 
which body, under the old Constitution, held the neces- 
sary powers for that purpose. At the October Term of 
the Supreme Court, in 1819, he was duly examined, and 
admitted to practice. A few weeks later, Chancellor 
Kent admitted him as Solicitor in Chancery. 

Having a desire to see something of the West, he made 
an extended tour of observation in that direction, passing 
through the States of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. 
During this time, in the spring of 1820, he visited the 
locality where the city of Chicago now stands, on which 
site was nothing but an old block house. Thence he tra- 
versed the wilderness, from the head of Lake Peoria, on 
the Illinois river, due west to the Mississippi crossing, and 
explored the lands then set apart for military bounties to 
the soldiers of 1812, almost daily encountering the semi- 



52 LIFE SKETCHES. 

hostile Winnebago Indians. On his return to Little Falls, 
he opened a law office in that place. He held the office 
of Surrogate from 1821 to 1828, when he resigned, to dis- 
charge the duties of State Senator for the Fifth Senate 
district. He held this office until the close of the session, 
in 1831, and then resigned to accept the appointment of 
United States District Attorney, made by President Jack- 
son-. He continued to hold that position under succeeding 
appointments made by Presidents Jackson and Van 
Buren, until the year 1841. He was appointed by 
Governor Marcy, First Judge of Herkimer county, in 
1832. 

Mr. Hammond in his Political History of New York, 
speaks of Mr. Benton as holding an influential position 
while in the Senate. He served, in that body, with 
Spencer, Seward, Viele, Allen, Tallmadge and others 
of that day, who have since departed. Mr. Benton 
always acted with the Democratic organization, until 
1855, and in 1858 he identified himself with the Repub- 
lican party. He always advocated the speedy completion 
of our public works, and, on that point, often disagreed 
with his political associates. He held strictly to the 
doctrine that human slavery could nowhere exist in this 
country, except by an authority of positive statute law ; 
and that the common law of the Anglo-Saxon race, could, 
in no respect, sanction or uphold the enslavement of a 
human being, black or white. He advocated the election 
and reelection of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency; and 
never countenanced the non-coercion of rebellion and 
secession. 

When the excitement ran high between the Old Hunk- 
ers and the Barn Burners, the Legislature elected him 
Secretary of State. He received the appointment of 
Auditor, in 1856, from the Commissioners of the Canal 
Fund. When the power of appointment was conferred 



NATHANIEL S. BENTON. 53 

upon the Governor and Senate, in 1857, he was reap- 
pointed by Governor Morgan; and he has since been 
reappointed by Governor Fenton. His present term 
expires on the 1st of January, 1868. 

Mr. Benton, though liberal and tolerant in the common 
affairs of life, holds tenaciously to the doctrine of strict 
construction in the discharge of his official duties. His 
rule of action is the Constitution and laws of the land 
passed in accordance therewith, believing that there is no 
security for public rights and the liberty and safety of the 
citizen, in a republic, except in a strict adherence to this 
rule — that the welfare of a constituent member of the 
State, should be subordinate to that of the whole commu- 
nity. He maintains that the canals of the State are the 
property of the whole people, and not of any particular 
portion or section of the State, or class of its citizens. In 

1859, three years after Mr. Benton went into the office, 
the canal receipts had fallen off over $900,000 from 1850, 
owing to the reduction in the rates of toll in 1858-9, a 
result foretold by the Auditor at the time. In January, 

1860, on the coming in of a Republican Canal Board, Mr. 
Benton, having then been in the Department four years, 
urgently advocated the restoration of the rates of toll to 
those of 1857, and, on some articles, a higher rate ; and he 
presented such facts to the Board as satisfied the members 
that his policy was the true one for the interests of the 
State. The subject was actively canvassed, earnestly 
debated and strongly opposed by the shipping and for- 
warding interests on the canal; but the measure was 
finally carried through; and, in the spring of 1862, the 
rates were brought back to those of 1857, with this result 
or difference between 1857 and 1862, viz. : an avei*age gain 
of thirty-six cents a ton in 1862, over that of 1859, making 
that difference nearly three millions of dollars, including 
the tolls on the increased tonnage. This fact shows the 



54 LIFE SKETCHES. 

soundness of the Auditoi''s notions on this financial 
question. 

Mr. Bexto^ is a gentleman of unimpeachable reputa- 
tion. He is every inch an honest man, as hundreds of his 
acquaintances, in public and private life, can testify. He 
is, as he ever has been, a faithful sentinel oyer the treasury 
of the State, in the Canal Department ; and his mind, at 
the age of seventy-four years, is just as acute as ever, in 
recognizing the traces of corruption. That he has spent 
so much of his lifetime, in the political arena, without a 
stain upon his buckler, is a fact which furnishes an exam- 
ple worthy of being imitated. It is to be regretted that 
men of this stamp are becoming rare, and that in their 
places are fast coming up those who care more for pecu- 
niary gain and self-aggrandizement, than for the true 
interests of the State. 



VICTOR M. RICE, 

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 

Mr. Rice is a man considerably above the average 
size, of nervous, sanguine temperament, and is in the 
forty-ninth year of his age, having been born April 5th, 
1818. He is a native of Mayville, Chautauqua county, 
and a son of the Hon. William Rice, who is mentioned, 
in the "Historical Gazetteer," among the early settlers 
of that county, and who migrated thither from the 
county of Washington. 

Mr. Rice, like many others whose fortune it has been 
to be sons of early settlers, seems not to have been con- 
tent with the education obtained during his minority; 
and hence we find him in his twenty-fourth year (1841) 
emerging from Alleghany College, Pennsylvania, where 
he had just graduated, and seeking a position as teacher 
of youth. 

In 1842, he commenced the study of law, in the office" 
of William Smith, in Mayville — a course of study which 
was not completed until several years later. In 1843, 
he removed to Buffalo, and was employed as teacher 
of the Latin language, penmanship and book-keeping, 
in a nourishing private school, of which John Drew 
was principal and proprietor. In 1844, he and Mr. 
Dkeav established a school of a higher grade, consisting 
of various departments, which was denominated the 
" Buffalo High School," and which was liberally patron- 
ized by the wealthy inhabitants of that city. In 1846, 
he was induced to lay aside the ferule, and mount the 
tripod as editor of the " Cataract," afterward the " West- 
ern Temperance Standard." In 1848, he was employed in 
the schools of Buffalo, and in 1852, was elected City 



56 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Superintendent of Schools. Under his supervision, and 
as a result of his exertions, the schools of Buffalo took a 
position among the first in the State — a position well 
maintained for a number of years. In 1853, he was 
elected President of the New York State Teachers' 
Association, of which he had for several years been 
an active working member. The Legislature passed, in 
1854, an act creating the "Department of Public Instruc- 
tion," and Mr. Rice was elected the first Superintendent, 
for three years, from the first Tuesday of April in that 
year. The schools throughout the State were, at this 
time, under the inspection of Town Superintendents. 
The State Superintendent soon saw, not only the ineffi- 
ciency of the supervision, but his own utter inability 
to bring into regular, harmonious action, the nine hun- 
dred and twenty-six subordinate officers elected by the 
towns, and make himself felt through them, as an educa- 
tional power upon the schools. One year's experience 
was enough. He saw that, if he would accomplish any- 
thing satisfactory to himself, or of advantage to the 
educational interests of the State, some other agency 
must be employed ; and he earnestly set to work to 
secure the passage of the law creating the office of 
School Commissioner. This was effected in 1856. The 
change, for a time, at least, threw much labor upon 
the department, but it gave the department an efficiency 
which it never had before, and which continues to 
increase as time progresses. During this first term as 
Superintendent, personally, and with the aid of an able 
assistant, E. Pesiiine Smith, he collected and collated 
the various fragmentary statutes in regard to Public 
Instruction, both special and general, which had been 
long accumulating on the statute books, and, by legis- 
lative authority, published them with explanatory notes, 
forms and directions, under the title, " Code of Public 



VICTOR M. RICE. 57 

Instruction." In this book, many of the incongruities 
of the school laws were first made manifest to the 
public, and it was, by far, the best exposition of the Pub- 
lic School System of the State, ever published. Another 
valuable public service of this first term, is worthy of 
mention. The public school moneys for the towns, were 
placed in the hands of the Town Superintendents, without 
proper, efficient checks against their misapplication, or 
their embezzlement, and thousands of dollars were annu- 
ally lost through incompetent or dishonest Town Super- 
intendents. The same officer made the apportionment 
to the schools and disbursed the money. This evil was 
remedied by the act of 1856, imposing upon the School 
Commissioners the duty of making the apportionment 
to the schools, giving the disbursement of the moneys to 
the Supervisors, and throwing around the transaction, 
such guards and checks as make embezzlement impossible 
without immediate detection. 

Mr. Rice was a member of the Legislature from Erie 
county, in 1861; was Chairman of the Committee on 
" Colleges, Academies and Common Schools," and took 
an influential part in all the important business of the 
session. In February, 1862, he was a second time elected 
by the Legislature, Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
and was again reelected, in April, 1865. During his 
present double term of office as Superintendent, he has 
accomplished much of permanent, public good. He 
has secured the revision, amendment and improvement 
of the general school laws, and has largely increased the 
number and efficiency of Teachers' Institutes. He has 
secured the establishment of five Normal Schools, for 
training teachers; and if, as we hope he may, he shall 
induce the Legislature of 1867 to abolish the rate bill, 
and make all the schools of the State free, he will fix his 



58 LIFE SKETCHES. 

place in history, side by side with those accounted public 
benefactors, and may proudly say with Horace : 

" Exegi monumentum sere perennius, 
* y Non omnis moriar." 

As a public officer, Mr. Rice is extremely cautious ; is 
what is known as a " strict constructionist " of law, and 
very rarely, if ever, assumes the exercise of doubtful 
powers. 



GEORGE W. SCHUYLER, 

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BANK DEPARTMENT. 

George W. Schuyler was born in Stillwater, Sai'atoga 
county, February 2d, 1810, and is the youngest of twelve 
brothers. The family removed to Ithaca, Tompkins county, 
the following year, where the subject of this sketch still 
resides. Until sixteen years of age, he worked upon the 
farm, attending district school, summer and winter. At that 
age, he entered a drug store, for the purpose of learning 
that business. At twenty-three years of age, he prepared 
for College, and entered the Freshman Class, of the Uni- 
versity in the city of New York, in the fall of 1834, gradu- 
ating with honor in 1837. In 1838, he resumed the business 
which he had learned, and in which he is still engaged, 
and was so far successful as to acquire independence. 

Always being of Anti-Slavery convictions, his first entry 
upon the political arena was in 1848, canvassing Tomp- 
kins county in earnest and effective advocacy of the " Buf- 
falo Platform." He was elected village trustee, the two 
following years, and in that capacity, exhibited his usual 
good sense in guarding the interests of his fellow-towns- 
men. He adhered to the Barn-Burner, or Free-Soil 
section of the Democratic party ; refusing to be dandled 
in the lap of Hunkerism, in 1852, he supported Hale 
for President in that campaign. Mr. Schuyler was 
one of five who organized the Republican party in 
Ithaca in 1855, and zealously canvassed the county for 
Fremont in 1856. lie was a delegate to the Chicago 
Republican Convention, in 1860, and voted for Seward. 
He was also a delegate to the Republican Convention in 



CO LIFE SKETCHES. 

Baltimore, in 1864, and exerted his influence, though with- 
out success, for the renomination of Vice-President Haji- 
lin ; and he is proud of his effort, to this day. 

Upon the first call for 75,000 volunteers, in 1861, he was 
one of two men who addressed a meeting of the citizens of 
his village, in favor of the movement ; and, the following 
day, assisted in raising a subscription of $10,000 for the 
families of volunteers, being made financial officer for the 
Board, for the distribution of the funds collected — a posi- 
tion of much labor and annoyance, the duties of 
which he discharged gratuitously. During the war, Mr. 
Schuyler was a firm supporter of the Government, and 
rendered valuable assistance, both by generous personal 
contributions, and by his zeal and efficiency in stimulating 
the latent patriotism of his fellow-citizens, and in securing 
volunteers for the service. 

Without effort or solicitation on his own part, he was 
nominated for the office of State Treasurer, by the Repub- 
lican Convention of 1863, and was elected. He was 
warmly urged for renomination, in the Convention of 1865, 
but the popular current in favor of veterans, was too 
strong to be resisted, and he succumbed with his associates 
in office. No one accepted the verdict more cheer- 
fully, or worked more heartily or zealously for the 
success of the ticket put in nomination, than did Mr. 
Schuyler. 

His great personal popularity, his tried integrity, and 
his steadfast and unselfish devotion to his party, pointed 
him out at once as the proper man to fill the vacancy in 
the office of Superintendent of the Banking Department ; 
and his claims were earnestly pressed upon the attention of 
the Governor, who, recognizing the eminent fitness of Mr. 
Schuyler, sent his name to the Senate, at its first execu- 
tive session, in 1866, and his appointment was confirmed 
without the usual formality of reference. 



GEORGE W. SCHUYLEK. Gl 

Mr. Schuyler is a descendant of one of the oldest Dutch 
families, whose members were prominently identified with 
the history of the Colony, four of his uncles having been 
officers in the Revolution. His political career has been 
open, consistent and straight-forward. In person, he is 
stout, fine looking, and of about medium height ; and his 
face is expressive of amiability. His manners are frank, 
cordial and courteous ; he is generous and kind-hearted, a 
warm and sincere friend, and a considerate, though firm 
and candid opponent. As a public officer, he has proved 
himself capable, honest and popular to a remarkable degree ; 
and no suspicion of corruption ever attached to him in his 
connection with public affairs. 



WILLIAM BARNES, 

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT. 

Mr. Barnes was born the 26th of May, 1824, in the 
town of Pompey, Onondaga county, New York. His 
father was the late Orson Barnes, a worthy and 
respected citizen of Onondaga county. His grandfather 
was a native of Massachusetts, whence he came to this 
State about the year 1800. His mother was Miss Eliza 
Phelps, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and was the 
daughter of Horace Phelps, Esq., of that city. 

Mr. Barnes received only a common school and acade- 
mic education ; his Alma Mater was the Manlius Academy 
and the ordinary select schools of his county. His father 
was a merchant and farmer, whose sons were all taught to 
practically understand the severe labor of a farmer's life, 
in a newly settled section of country. At the early age 
of fifteen, the subject of this article was sent out from the 
homestead, to teach school. The next year he began 
the study of law, in the office of Minard & Stansbury, 
at Baldwinsville, New York, teaching school, however, 
during the winter season, for the purpose of bearing his 
own expenses. His father's farm was three miles from the 
village, and William walked that distance, morning and 
evening, for several years. 

It was during the leisure of these lonely, but pleasant 
and invigorating walks, that he conned over the plans of 
his future life. He Avas always encouraged and incited by 
the wise counsels of his father, who Avas a man of great 
ambition and superior intelligence. Mr. Barnes, after 
studying awhile at Baldwinsville, was in the offices of 
Messrs. Hillis & Pratt, and General James P. Law- 
rence, of Syracuse. His father being anxious that before 



WILLIAM BARNES. 63 

his admission to the bar, his son should have the advant- 
ages of witnessing a more extended practice than the 
courts of Onondaga county afforded, recommended him 
to pass the last year of his legal studies in some larger 
city. Such was the zeal which filled the mind of Mr, 
Barnes, when he was in Baldwinsville, he would some- 
times walk a distance of twelve miles that he might hear 
and see the actual practice in the courts at Syracuse. At 
length, pursuant to his father's advice, having procured 
letters of introduction from Judge Stansbury, General 
Lawrrxce, Judge Pratt and others, with the wages 
which he had earned during the preceding winter by 
teaching, in his pocket, he started for Albany, in May, 1845. 
After visiting nearly all of the principal lawyers' offices in 
Albany, he finally arranged with the firm of Hammond & 
Weed, for a clerkship in their office, receiving his board 
as compensation for his services. He immediately took 
the main office-charge of an extensive and increasing legal 
practice ; and was admitted to the Bar, the next year, at 
the General Term of the Supreme Court, held at Utica. 
The late Nicholas Hill was one of the Board of Exam- 
iners ; he gave Mr. Barnes many words of encourage- 
ment, and predicted for him a brilliant career. After 
admission, the young lawyer, with his parchment in his 
pocket, paid a short visit to the homestead, and then 
started out into the world again. Finally, after consider- 
able examination and negotiation in reference to other 
localities, he visited Albany for the purpose of starting in 
business, having, however, only a borrowed capital of 
seven dollars. On his arrival in Albany, he sat down in 
his room, and sadly calculated for how long a time seven 
dollars would pay his board-bill and other expenses. In 
a few days, however, his prospects were brightened by an 
arrangement for a partnership with his old friend and 
patron, Samuel H. Hammond, Esq. ; and thus the law firm 



64 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of Hammond, King & Barnes was established — a firm 
which had an influential practice, until the period of its 
dissolution, in 1851, at which time, Mr. Barnes individ- 
ually opened an office and continued in practice until 1860, 
when he was appointed to his present position as Superin- 
tendent of the Insurance Department. Previous to 1855, 
Mr. Barnes, as the Special Agent and Counsel of the Bank 
Department, had examined the Lewis County, and the 
' Reciprocity Banks, which were in an insolvent condition. 
His success in making those examinations attracted the 
attention of the Comptroller, Hon. James M. Cook, who, 
in the summer of 1855, designated him as a Commissioner 
to make special examinations of the Webster, Henry Clay, 
National Exchange, Tontine, and other Insurance Com- 
panies in this State. All the companies examined — seven 
in number — were reported by him as fraudulent, and were 
afterward dissolved by the Supreme Court. The glaring 
frauds of those organizations, thus exposed to the gaze of 
the public, by the lucid reports of Mr. Barnes, startled the 
Insurance Companies as well as the business community, 
and many minds were busy in devising schemes for the 
prevention of such dangerous impositions. The successor 
of Mr. Cook, Comptroller Burrows, tried in vain to 
remedy the evil. In 1859, an act was passed by the Legis- 
lature, establishing an Insurance Department, and trans- 
ferring to it all books, documents and securities relating to 
insurance, which were in the Comptroller's office, and all 
of the control and regulation of Insurance Companies. 
The special examinations of Mr. Barnes in 1855, doubt- 
less led to the establishment of the Insurance Department ; 
therefore, the Companies and the public, with almost 
entire unanimity, desired that he should have the manage- 
ment of it. Governor Morgan acceded to their wishes; 
and on the 11th day of January, 1860, sent his nomination 
to the Senate, which was immediately and unanimously 



WILLIAM BARNES. 65 

confirmed without the usual reference. In April 1S65, 
Mr. Barnes was reappointed as Superintendent by Gov- 
ernor Fenton. He has continued to discharge the duties 
of that office in the most conscientious manner, until the 
present time. The thorough and elaborate reports of the 
New York Insurance Department, are recognized in other 
States of the union, as the most authoritative expositions 
of the standing of American companies, and have often 
been commended by leading insurance journals in Eng- 
land, Germany, Prussia and other European countries, as 
the best publications of this kind in any country. 

In politics, Mr. Barnes was educated as a Democrat, but 
he exhibited, early in life, decided radical and progressive 
tendencies. In 1844, although not a votei', he became a 
member of the Liberty party, and made speeches in favor 
of the election of James G. Birney to the Presidency. 
He was very active in his efforts to assist in the organizing 
of that party in the counties of Onondaga and Madison. 
Mr. Barnes remained with that organization, until 1848, 
when he supported Mr. Van Buren for the Presidency, 
and made a number of speeches in favor of " Free Soil, 
Free Speech and Free Men." He was also an enthusiastic 
supporter of the " Corner Stone" principles advocated by 
the "Albany Atlas." In 1856, Mr. Barnes became an ener- 
getic member of the Republican party, having been one 
of the originators of the Saratoga and Auburn Conven- 
tions, and a leading man in forming the Republican organ- 
ization of Albany county, in the fall of 1855. He has 
always, emphatically, opposed the "Philadelphia Conven- 
tion " and the policy of President Johnson, believing that 
the old landmarks of freedom, for which he has battled, 
should be maintained in the hour of victory as well as 
defeat. Mr. Barnes was Secretary of the New York State 
Kansas Committee, the labors of which were very efficient 
and thorough ; and he greatly assisted in giving to the 
9 



66 LIFE SKETCHES. 

State of Kansas, the Free Soil Constitution which, finally, 
was secured at the bayonet's point. He was an early 
adherent of the temperance reform, and enlisted as a 
speaker in the Washingtonian movement. He was also an 
initiator of various educational reforms; and, in connec- 
tion with his father, the County Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, took charge of one of the first Teachers' 
Institutes ever held in this State. 

In 1849, Mi - . Barnes married Miss Emily P. Weed, the 
youngest daughter of Thurlow Weed, Esq. Mrs. Barnes 
is a lady of extraordinary intelligence and quick percep- 
tions, and by her rare powers has wielded no inconsider- 
able influence in the benevolent and patiiotic movements 
at the Capital. 



SENATORS. 



GEORGE H. ANDREWS. 



The Senator from the Twentieth District is now a resi- 
dent of Springfield, Otsego county. He was born in the 
city of New York (where the greater portion of his life 
was spent), on the 3d of September, 1821. His father was 
an educational professor, and he enjoyed, therefore, during 
his boyhood years, unusual advantages of paternal educa- 
tion. Before he was twelve years old he had read through 
the yEneid, and at a period when most lads have but begun 
fitting for school, he was familiar with most of the stand- 
ard works in classical literature, and with many branches 
of study which are the terror of Freshmen in College. In 
1836, Avhen fifteen years of age, he entered the office of 
the " Courier and Enquirer," then the leading newspaper 
of the Metropolis, as a clerk. Exhibiting peculiar adapt- 
ation for the profession, he was in a few weeks made 
Reporter. His position was a somewhat changeful but 
always an honorable one, so long as he remained connected 
with this establishment. He vibrated between the desk 
of accountant and the office of Reporter, until 1848, when 
his long and able services were properly recognized and 
rewarded by making him Publisher and Associate Editor 
of the paper; a position in which he secured a State and 
National reputation, and exercised a very considerable 
control over political movements, acting in concert with 



68 LIFE SKETCHES. 

some of the best minds of the old Whig party, to which 
he belonged, giving an effective support to its measures 
and originating many' movements which were of import- 
ance to its welfare and success. In 1854, he was the 
Whig candidate for Congress, in the Fifth District, and in 
1856, was the Republican candidate for the same office. 

In 1858, Mr. Andrews, feeling somewhat the effects 
upon a naturally strong constitution of more than twenty 
years of office work, removed his residence to Springfield, 
Otsego county, a location selected by him solely on 
account of the purity of its atmosphere and the beauty of 
its surroundings. In 1863, he was elected State Senator, 
and served his constituents so well that he was again 
chosen after a unanimous renomination and by a very 
flattering vote. His tenure of office depends solely ujDon 
his own willingness to occupy the position, or upon the 
probabilities of his removal to some station in which his 
great abilities would have a wider scope for exercise. 

As a member of the Senate, Mr. Andrew's has a very 
high rank, and is universally conceded to be among the 
ablest members of a body that embraces some of the best 
intellects of the State. In 1865, he was selected by the 
Governor as one of the Commissioners to obtain a reduc- 
tion of the quota assigned to this State in the call of the 
General Government — a very delicate and responsible 
duty. He proved himself fully equal to the trust reposed 
in him. It was by him the plan was devised which 
received the indorsement of President Lincoln, and har- 
monized all the differences that had arisen between the 
State and Federal authorities. As Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Municipal Affairs, he has taken a conspicuous 
part in the legislation relating to New York city, seeking 
always on the one hand, to secure such thorough action as 
shall guarantee the best interests of the law-abiding public, 
and on the other hand, to guard the municipal franchises 



GEORGE H. ANDREWS. 69 

from invasion and from the clangers of centralized power. 
This principle in his policy was happily illustrated by his 
course upon the bill creating a Metropolitan Health Com- 
mission, and the Metropolitan Fire Department Law 
owes to his well-judged advocacy, and to his prudent sug- 
gestions, much of the power which secured its adoption 
by the Legislature, and enabled it to pass the ordeal of a 
test as to its constitutionality in the Court of Appeals. 
During the late recess, he has acted as Chairman of the 
Special- Commission to examine the different plans for 
street raih*oads in the city of New York, a labor for which 
his strong common sense and quick perceptions have 
especially qualified him. 

In the Senate, Mr. Andrews is peculiarly prominent as 
a ready and versatile debater. He is remarkable for the 
readiness with which he discovers the strong points of his 
own, and the weak points of an adversary's situation, and 
for his keen, incisive and always telling manner of 
presenting an argument. His rhetoric is faultless; his 
imagination alert and felicitous ; his command of wit 
appears unusually great, and his humor irresistible. In 
addition to this, a wide and varied com*se of reading, and 
much association with leading men, during a period of 
more than a quarter of a century, have placed him in 
possession of a fund of historic and biographic illustra- 
tion and comparison, which seems almost inexhaustible, 
and which he has always at command. In readiness of 
repartee, he has few equals. A luckless opponent who 
leaves a gap in his logic, has no sooner taken his seat than 
the Senator from the Twentieth is upon him, dissecting 
his blunders with pitiless logic, and riddling him with 
sarcasms keen as Damascene blades ; at the same time, he 
is never unkind, never discourteous, never personally 
bitter. Naturally warm-hearted and generous, his asso- 
ciations and habits have all served to culture the inbred 



^ 



70 LIFE SKETCHES. 

instincts of a gentleman ; and even the victim who writhes 
under the scalpel, is compelled to acknowledged the 
admirable grace and skill with which it is employed. Mr. 
Andrews is seldom ambitious in his rhetoric ; but some 
of his extemporaneous speeches have been marked by 
passages of eloquence which for beauty and pathos would 
do honor to any deliberative body. 

Senator Andrews is not a graduate of any college. 
Those who are aware of this fact, have remarked with 
surprise, his intimate and critical knowledge of the 
classics, and the scholarly ease and grace which always 
distinguish his public addresses. An explanation is to be 
found for this in the profession of his father, and the 
advantages of early education he thus enjoyed, and by 
which a naturally quick and capable mind was early 
developed. In addition to this, Mr. Andrews enjoyed 
for many years the intimate acquaintance and constant 
society of such men as J. Watson Webb, Charles King, 
C. F. Daniels, John O. Sargent, Henry J. Raymond, 
James R. Spalding and others of their class ; with him 
no Board of University Professors can present a com- 
parison in general attainments. Thus advantaged, and 
with the opportunities of that "People's College," the 
newspaper office, he has secured an education, both theo- 
retical and practical, which gives him a place among the 
best scholars of the State. 



JAMES BARNETT. 



Me. Baenett was born in Orange county, Vermont, 
May 18th, 1810. His ancestors were among the one hun- 
dred families, mostly Presbyterian, that emigrated from 
the North of Ireland, in 1719, and settled the town of 
Londonderry, New Hampshire — an industrious and thrifty 
people. His father, after his marriage in 1*799, removed to 
the mountain State of Vermont, and from thence, in 1817, 
migrated to Madison county, New York. Having a large 
family to support, his struggles, like those of all pioneers 
of that time, in a new country which was almost a wilder- 
ness, were severe and trying ; and though he was enabled 
to rear his children to be the possessors of rugged consti- 
tutions, and to instill into their minds high notions of 
uprightness of character, he could afford them but few 
opportunities for an education. His son, James Baenett, 
attended the common schools of that day, during the 
winter months, laboring on the farm with his father in 
the summer, until eighteen years of age, when he engaged 
in teaching school in the winter, continuing his labors 
upon the farm, during the summer. In 1832, he accepted 
a clerkship in the mercantile business; and, in 1836, 
engaged in that business upon his own account, in Fay- 
etteville, Onondaga county. He removed to Peterboro', 
in 1838, and has continued the same business until the 
present time. 

From his early political education and training, he was 
led to espouse the principles of the Democratic party, 
giving his first vote, in 1831, for Enos T. Theoop for 
Governor ; his first vote for President being for Andrew 
Jackson, in 1832. On the formation of the Liberty party 



72 LIFE SKETCHES. 

he became a convert to its principles, and was an active 
and leading member until the organization of the Repub- 
lican party, at which time he joined its fortunes, and has 
ever since been an earnest advocate of its principles and 
measures. 

He was several times chosen Supervisor of his town by 
the Liberty party, which, by the influence of Hon. Gerrit 
Smith (a resident of the same town), Hon. Mr. Barnett, 
and a few other zealous advocates, had acquired quite an 
ascendancy in that immediate section. 

Mr. Barnett was elected to the Legislature in 1859, 
from the Second District of Madison county, by the 
Republican organization; and in 1860, was chosen Jus- 
tice of the Peace, by the electors of his town. 

In 1S65, he was elected by the Republican Union party 
to the Senate of the State of New York from the Twenty- 
third Senatorial District, comprising the counties of 
Madison, Chenango and Cortland. The first session 
of his present term as Senator, he served as Chairman of 
the Committees on Indian Affairs, and Charitable and 
Religious Societies, also as a member of the Committee on 
Retrenchment. During the late war for the suppression 
of the rebellion, he gave largely of his time and means, 
actively and effectively encouraging enlistments ; and, 
with a heart warmly enlisted in the cause, did much to 
sustain the Government. Under his encouraging influ- 
ence his two sons became volunteers in the Union army; 
the eldest, bravely representing the stock from which he 
sprang, going forth at the first call, to meet a hero's death 
at Antietam. 

Mr. Barnett is a man of strong convictions. His 
religious sentiments are, and from his earliest years have 
been, of the Puritan orthodox type of his New England 
ancestors, adopting the radical congregational views of 
church polity. lie is a devoted friend of Sabbath 



DAVID S. BENNETT. 73 

Schools, and has labored in the cause as Sabbath School 
Superintendent, for more than thirty years. 

He is a valuable public servant. Utterly incapable of 
duplicity, carefully scrutinizing all measures which come 
before him for decision, bringing to his aid, in solving 
their merits, a clear head, sound judgment and rigid 
uprightness, he discharges his duties with a fidelity and 
wisdom which cause him to be highly respected. 



DAVID S. BENNETT. 



Senator Bennett is a gentleman brimful of good humor 
and affability. In person, he is a little under medium 
height, closely built, and has a face expressive of keen 
business tact, enjoyment of social relations, and benevolent 
purposes. 

He was born, in 1 814, at Camillus, Onondaga county, New 
York. His parents were from Connecticut. His father, who 
was a farmer, bred his son to agricultural pursuits, during 
his minority. Mr. Bennett had the customary benefits of 
the common school, in early youth ; and later, he spent a 
couple of years at the Onondaga Hollow Acadeni3 r , of which 
Prof. Samuel B. Woolworth, one of the most erudite 
educators in the State, was the Principal. While at that 
institution, he managed to mingle plenty of schoolboy fun 
with study, though never doing an act in a malicious spirit. 
At one time, he thought of going through college ; and, in 
fact, made some progress in fitting for the Freshman year ; 
but his tastes were manifestly for business, and the idea of 
a collegiate course was abandoned. After leaving school, 
he pursued farming, until 1842, when he left Camillus, and 
removed to Syracuse, New York, where he conducted the 
10 






74 LIFE SKETCHES. 

produce commission business, for a term of years. In 1849, 
Mr. Bennett closed up his affairs in Syracuse, and went 
into the same business in Buffalo, under the firm of D. S. 
Bennett & Co., which was really a branch house of a firm 
in New York city, in Avhich he was largely interested, under 
the name of Bennett, Hall & Co., subsequently charged 
to Bennett & Brokaw. A year afterward, the latter firm 
established an independent Banking House, the name of 
which was the Queen City Bank, with a capital of $55,000, 
and the object of which was to use the capital for the pur- 
pose of making advances on the produce to be forwarded 
to the firm in New York city. At the end of a couple of 
years, however, the project not meeting their expectations, 
the affairs of the Bank were honorably brought to a close. 
At about that time, Mr. Bennett, still continuing in his 
old business, purchased of Joseph Dart, the first grain 
elevator built in this country ; it was known as the " Dart 
Elevator," and eligibly situated for the lake trade. In 
18G0, it was consumed by fire. Undaunted by the loss, 
Mr. Bennett immediately built, on the same site, an 
immense elevator 150 feet long by 100 feet wide, with a 
storage capacity of 600,000 bushels. The rapidity with 
which this undertaking was accomplished, is worthy of 
mention, when taken in connection with the fact that, only 
the year before, he had, in company with George W. Tift, 
Esq., a prominent business man of Buffalo, erected a large 
elevator at the terminus of the New York and Erie Railroad. 
The sagacity which Mr. Bennett manifested in these 
enterprises, places him in the first order of commercial men. 
In 1SG5, he invested some of his capital in a couple of 
barques, purchasing a half interest with George W. Allen, 
Esq. So satisfactory did this investment prove to be, he 
built, last year, in connection with Mr. Allen, and Truman 
G. Avery, two large barques, each of about 1,000 tons 
burden, at a cost of $95,000. He is now building a barque 



DAVID S. BENNETT. 75 

of 1,200 tons burden, with a carrying capacity of 50,000 
bushels of corn, which will excel all vessels of the kind, on 
the lakes. 

As a business man, Mr. Bennett is bold and forcible. 
Obstacles are of secondary importance to him. Let him 
but catch a glimpse of a chance of success, and he uses 
his whole strength to consummate his purposes. But this 
inherent energy of character never betrays him into the 
commission of an unmanly act; for whenever he cannot 
see his way clear, without a resort to unfair means, he 
pursues the matter no further. He has always adhered to 
the theory that large successes are accomplished by taking 
corresponding risks, and has usually made it a point to 
carry out most of his stupendous enterj)rises where there 
would be the least competition, and where, to a casual 
observer, there seemed but slight inducements for running 
great hazards. In his early manhood, he married Miss 
Harriett A. Benham, daughter of Truman Benham, 
Esq., of Bridgewater, Oneida county, New York. This 
lady, with her excellent domestic qualities, has presided 
over his home like a true American woman; and with 
her strong, practical sense, has given bent to the successful 
plans of his life. 

Mr. Bennett has been a business man, rather than a 
politician. He belonged to the Democratic party, in its 
palmy days ; but, with the memorable change in political 
organizations, he espoused the cause of the Republican 
party, at its formation. In 1865, he was nominated to the 
State Senate by the Thirty-first District, which seemed to be 
almost impregnably Democratic. The canvass was very 
heated ; both parties fought with furious vigor, and, not- 
withstanding the opposition from the Democrats headed by 
the late Dean Richmond, Mr. Bennett was elected by a 
majority of 743. In the session of 1866, he carried through 
the Niagara Frontier Police Bill, which was persistently 



16 LIFE SKETCHES. 

opposed by the Democrats, but which, in its efficient work- 
ings, has now the commendations of both parties. He is 
Chairman of the Committee on the Manufacture of Salt, 
and is a member of the Committees on Canals and Indian 
Affairs. Mr. Bennett seldom enters into debate. He lays 
no claim to the embellishments of oratory. Whatever he 
has to say, he expresses in a " round, unvarnished" way, 
and that is the end of it, so far as talk is concerned. He 
is vigilant over general and local interests, and faithful 
in his legislative work. 



SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 



The village of New York Mills lies in the lovely valley 
of the Mohawk and Sauquoit. There are three factories, 
the "Oneida," the famed "New York Mills," and the 
" Burr Stone." For a mile and a half skirting each side of 
the fine hard road, are the school houses and churches 
of the village, the grounds and residences of the factory- 
owners, and the homes of the operatives. In summer, 
New York Mills is very attractive ; it is one of the sights, 
in Oneida county, which strangers go to see. The houses 
of the workingmen are neat, convenient and healthy, 
most of them standing back from the road, with yard in 
front, garden in rear, and half hidden by foliage. Sobriety 
and good order at all times prevail. 

It is hard to realize that this fictory people, with their 
comfort, temperance and intelligence, their books, Sunday 
observances, and winter lectures, their freedom from the 
" clemming " of crowded Europe, are working at the same 
business, and, were originally, very many of them, of the 
same nationality as the men and the women made familiar 



SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 77 

to us by Parliaraentaiy reports and debates, by poets and 
novelists — the men and the women of Eliot, Mrs. Gas- 
kell, Charlotte Bronte, John Bright and Charles 
Kingsley. The good standing of New York Mills is due 
to the character of the employes, which has always been 
high, and to the regulations and example of the employers. 

The memory of Benjamin Walcott is honored in many 
places, but nowhere more honored than among the work- 
ing people, for whose interests and happiness he was 
zealous and responsible. The ovation given him some 
years ago, on his return from the Old World, was a 
striking evidence of the love that was borne him ; the 
whole population turning out to give him joyous welcome. 
His ideas have, in the main, been carried out by his suc- 
cessors, his son and Samuel Campbell, the stranger, 
whom, thirty-five years ago, the elder Walcott welcomed 
within his gates. 

Samuel Campbell was born at Tarbolton, Ayrshire, 
Scotland, in 1809. In his boyhood he had the advantages 
of those schools for which his native land has been 
renowned through Europe, since John Knox returned 
from the feet of Calvin, and Scotland broke forever with 
Rome. He came to America in 1831, and pitched his tent 
in New York Mills. He began his new life, as a working- 
man, in the employ of Marshall & Walcott. He had 
an iron frame, great working power, mechanical skill, 
ready adaptation of means to ends, quick perception of 
defects and remedies, and he rose steadily and rapidly. 
He made many valuable improvements in machinery. In 
1847, he became a partner in the company. From that 
time, his business career has been upward and onward. 
The hands and brain of Mr. Campbell have been cease- 
lessly at work, and with large results in many directions. 
And now, in his advancing years, he has the joy to know 
that his ample fortune has been won by honest labor of 



78 LIFE SKETCHES. 

head and hand, without a stain on his character or reputa 
tion, and with a full discharge of his duties to employes, 
to community, to family and to country. 

Mr. Campbell has given much attention to agriculture. 
A fine farm is attached to his residence, and he has 
imported and raised some of the best stock — Ayrshires, 
Durhams and Alderneys. His herd of Ayrshires is the 
best in the country. His stock has often won for him 
the first prizes at State and county fairs. 

Mr. Campbell married, in 1833, the lady whose virtues 
and whose pleasant ways cheered him during his long 
years of toil, and who still presides over his household. A 
large family of sons and daughters have grown up around 
him; his eldest son is Consul at Bayonne, France. The 
residence of the Senator is on an eminence far back from 
the road, in the center of fine and variegated grounds, and 
overlooking a wide and lovely landscape. The rooms are 
high and large, the hall and staircase of unusual breadth 
and sweep, and all around are memorials of his mother- 
land. 

Mr. Campbell was a Whig, afterward a Republican, 
and always a devoted son of his adopted country. As 
Supervisor of Whitestown and member of the War Com- 
mittee of Oneida county, he worked with all his might 
during the war and for the war. His liberality went 
forth in every conceivable direction. We had intended 
to give his benefactions, so far as known to us, but the list 
is too long ; we have no room for it ; and a statement 
of what we know would do but partial justice to an open- 
handed patriotism most rare and honorable. The Union 
party showed their sense of his nobleness in this regard 
by appointing him a Delegate to the Convention, at Balti- 
more, which nominated Mr. Lincoln for his second term, 
and by the heavy majority which sent him to the Senate. 
The manner of his nomination was very complimentary. 



SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 79 

Dr. L. "W. Rogers, of Utica, a man who knew him well, 
prefaced the presentation of his name to the Convention 
by the following address : 

"Mr. President — I rise to name a candidate for Senator, who 
is well known to the members of this Convention — so favorably- 
known that he needs no word of eulogy from me. He is a man of 
large experience in business, and well acquainted with the wants 
and condition of the district; a Democrat in the true sense of the 
term, who sympathizes with the common people, and aims to 
improve and elevate them ; a patriot, who stood by the country in 
her day of trouble, laboring without ceasing, and contributing 
without stint to furnish troops for the Union army, and to support 
our brave soldiers in the field ; a man whose character for personal 
and political integrity is without reproach and above suspicion; a 
large-hearted, liberal gentleman, whom none know but to love, 
none name but to praise — Samuel Campbell, of Whitestown." 

The strong sense of Mr. Campbell soon mastered the 
details of a Senator's duty ; and, in his quiet, unobtru- 
sive, but effective way, he has accomplished all that he or 
his constituents desired. The attention is naturally drawn 
to him as he sits in the Senate, and the eye of the stranger 
lingers on the fine head, flowing beard, white hair and 
bright, cheery face, surmounting the broad shoulders and 
stalwart frame of Samuel Campbell. 



GEORGE CHAMBERS. 



Senator Chambers was born, October 31st, 1815, in 
Marbletown, Ulster county, New York. His ancestors were 
of the Dutch families that were among some of the first 
settlers of the county ; and his father, Jacob Chambers, was 
a Surveyor of considerable eminence in his profession, and 
was much engaged in surveying and dividing up the lands 
of the State, in allotments, towns and sub-divisions. He 
also represented his district in the Legislature, in the 
year 1836. 

Mr. Chambers represents the Tenth Senatorial District, 
and is a member of the Committees on Public Health, 
Medical Societies, Literature, and Charitable and Religious 
Societies. He is a physician of extensive practice, in his 
county, of the Allopathic School, having graduated about 
the year 1838, which profession he has continually followed, 
up to the present time. Commencing his professional 
duties, immediately after graduating, in the town of Never- 
sink, Sullivan county, he found a large field for usefulness, 
as well as a rugged and wild country, which Avould have 
been an unsurmountable barrier to any one practicing medi- 
cine, possessed of less physical endurance and energy than 
the Doctor ; but, by perseverance, which is one of the most 
prominent traits of his character, he has succeeded in over- 
coming the usual difficulties which interpose in the success 
of young men commencing business. After three years' 
residence in Sullivan county, he returned to the place of 
his nativity, a few years before the death of his father, and 
has since been engaged, until the present time, in the 
double capacity of physician and farmer. He represented 
the town of Marbletown, from 1861 to 1866, in the Board 






GEORGE CHAMBERS. 81 

of Supervisors, of which he was Chairman, daring the last 
three years. 

Notwithstanding the close application with which he 
confined himself to his professional business, he was not 
insensible to the political events of the day ; and he has 
generally been counted as one of those who, from their 
actions, and the interest manifested in political affairs, are 
numbered among live politicians. Although a strict party 
man, he never has been an aspirant for official position ; 
and whenever he has allowed himself to become a candidate 
for office, it has been at a sacrifice of his individual feelings 
to the wishes of his political friends. In politics, he was 
originally a Henry Clay Whig, and supported successively 
the Whig nominees for the Presidency, until the nomination 
of John C. Fremont, when he decided not to go into the 
Republican ranks ; but, on the contrary, supported Mil- 
lard Fillmore, the " American" candidate for the Presi- 
dency. In 1860, Mr. Chambers acted with that wing of the 
Democracy which was in favor of the election of Stephen 
A. Douglas, and, in the subsequent Presidential campaign, 
his talents and exertions were cast in the balances, in favor 
of Gen. MoCr.ELLAN. Since then, he has uniformly indorsed 
the policy of the Democracy. 

Senator Chambers is a gentleman of commanding ap- 
pearance, and meets all men with urbanity. Though he 
is unfrequently an orignator of measures, he nevertheless 
lays down his propositions in a perspicuous manner, and 
stands ready to defend them and to discuss their merits, 
if necessary ; and yet he is not a frequent debater, prefer- 
ring to accomplish his legislative work in a quiet way ; 
but he shows no neglect of either general or special inter- 
ests. 

11 



LORENZO D. COLLINS. 



This Senator, for the Thirteenth District, was born in 
Whitehall, Washington county, New York, on the 13th 
of July, 1821. Both of his grandfathers were in the Army 
of the Revolution. His paternal grandfather having been 
taken prisoner, was carried to England, and there impris- 
oned until the close of the war. His father, a resident of 
Whitehall, served for a short time in the war of 1812; 
and, being in moderate circumstances, was able to afford 
his large family of children no special advantages of edu- 
cation, beyond what could be obtained in the District 
School, during a short winter respite from industrial pur- 
suits. Leaving Whitehall at the age of twenty, the 
subject of this article removed to West Troy, Albany 
county, and there hired out to work by the month for a 
period of two years. At the expiration of that time, he 
found that, in addition to the little capital which he had 
saved from his earnings, he had made a reputation for 
integrity, which enabled him to obtain the requisite credit 
for commencing business on his own account ; and accord- 
ingly, in 1843, he commenced the canal store and stabling 
business in that village; he added to it, in 1850, storage 
and forwarding. 

His business grew in extent, and yielded a handsome 
return in profit, so that, in 1855, he had not only been able 
to erect fine buildings for its accommodation, but had also 
something to invest in bank stock. The same year, he was 
elected a Director of the Union Bank of Troy, a position 
which he still holds. In order to facilitate his grain busi- 
ness, in which he was heavily interested, he became an 
owner of boats to a considerable extent, so that his inter. 



LORENZO D. COLLINS. 83 

ests have been constantly and increasingly connected with 
the canals of the State. 

In 1882, his brother entered into partnership Avith him. 
Being thus partially relieved of the immediate care and 
oversight of his business, Mr. Collins, in the same year, 
removed to the fine farm upon which he now resides, about 
one mile northwest of the village. His early experience 
in farm life, coupled with his naturally good judgment in 
any pursuit, has enabled him to prove himself a practical 
as well as an amateur farmer. 

As a business man, Senator Collins has been abun- 
dantly successful. Beginning life as he did, he may take 
a justifiable pride in saying, that his note never went to 
protest, nor was there ever a time, in his business experi- 
ence, when he could not pay every dollar that he owed. 

Being a man of deep convictions and positive opinions, 
Senator Collins early became known as an ardent and 
leading supporter of the principles enunciated by the old 
Whig party ; and when that party ceased to exist, he 
engaged with equal zeal in the support of Republican 
principles, and soon became known in his village as an 
influential party man. Although residing in a strong 
Democratic Ward, in 1852, he was elected one of the 
Trustees of the village. He discharged his duties so 
acceptably, that, in the following year, he was chosen 
President of the Board. In 1858, the Republicans of the 
Fourth Assembly District of Albany county, fixed upon 
him as the man who could probably overcome the strongly 
adverse majority in the district. He accepted the nomina- 
tion, and was triumphantly elected. In the succeeding 
year he was again elected. In the House, he was a mem- 
ber of the Canal Committee for two years ; but, upon 
receiving a renomination for a third term, his business 
interests compelled him to decline. In 1865, he was 
elected State Senator, which result, together with the 



84 LIFE SKETCHES. 

election of the balance of the Republican ticket in the 
county constituting the Senatorial District, may be attri- 
buted, in a great measure, to positive strength in the 
nomination. Mr. Collins, while never seeking show or 
prominence before the public, is, in. respect to practical 
ideas touching the material interests of the State, one of 
the able members of the Senate. He possesses that inti- 
mate acquaintance with questions of commerce and finance, 
which is so essential to practical legislation, and his long 
identification and acquaintance with canal interests, give 
him deserved prominence and influence in that respect, 
and eminently fit him for his position as Chairman of the 
Committee on Canals. 

Recognizing him as one of the representative business 
men of that vicinity, Senator Collins was, in 1865, 
appointed by the Board of Trade of the city of Troy, as 
a delegate to the International Convention held in Detroit, 
in that year. Among his neighbors, he is looked upon as 
a public spirited citizen, ever ready to bestow labor and 
means for the purpose of securing the good of the commu- 
nity. During the rebellion, he not only took deep interest 
in helping to fill the quotas of men demanded from his 
village, but he also interested himself, to a great extent, 
in raising a fund for the relief of the families of volunteers. 
Among the local improvements for which his fellow-citi- 
zens are indebted to him, may be mentioned the fine iron 
bridge, at the upper side cut, in West Troy, extending the 
whole width of Broadway. The Canal Board determined 
upon, and actually put under contract, an ordinary road 
bridge for this point, but they were dissuaded from that 
design chiefly through his interposition. 

Being of a generous and genial nature, Senator Collins 
enjoys the successes which have attended his efforts in 
life ; and he finds a satisfaction in giving a kind word, and 
extending a helping hand to the deserving. Still in the 



CHARLES G. CORNELL. 85 

prime of life, it is not probable that his public record is 
yet complete ; and he may, therefore, be justly regarded 
as one of the " cominer men " of the State. 



CHARLES G. CORNELL. 



This gentleman, representing the Fifth Senatorial Dis- 
trict, is a native of the city of New York, at which place 
he was born on the 12th of February, 1827. In politics, 
he is a Democrat of the Tammany School — his Democ- 
racy being inherited, and widely diffused through the 
Cornell family. In personal appearance, he is a well- 
built man, standing five feet eleven, with a well-balanced 
head, firmly set on a stout neck. He has excellent muscu- 
lar development, and activity. His face denotes firmness, 
if not stubbornness of character, truth and sincerity; 
yet he has a mild blue eye, and rather pleasing expres- 
sion, black hair inclined to straightness. His disposition 
and social qualifications are such as to gather around him 
firm and lasting friends. As a business man, he is one of 
those who have the foresight to look well ahead, and the 
courage to take risks where others would hesitate. He 
acquired a competency in his business, before he entered 
into the field of politics ; and, with his business habits, had 
he wholly ignored the honors of office, would have been 
worth a couple of hundred thousand dollars more than he 
is at present. In the district which he represents in the 
Senate, Mr. Cornell is highly respected and esteemed. 
His political course has been open and faithful to his party 
and his friends. Even with his political opponents, he 
bears the reputation of being a man of honor and truth. 
He served several years in the city government, and in one 



86 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of its branches .is presiding officer. During the past four 
years, he has filled the onerous position of Street Commis- 
sioner, holding the place longer, and giving better satis- 
faction in the discharge of its important duties, than any- 
other incumbent. During the last year, the office was 
made the scape-goat for all pretended reform interests ; 
when harrassed and annoyed, Mr. Cornell withdrew 
from the place. In the Senate, he is more of a worker 
than a talker, looking well after the interests of his constit- 
uents, and protecting them to the best of his ability. 

Mr. Cornell served the full period of his time in the 8th 
Regiment, New York State Militia, and was among the first 
to volunteer his services at the breaking out of the war. 
He served with his regiment with great credit, having 
command nearly the Avhole of the time of the Bull Run 
fight. He is an unflinching Union man, and an advocate 
of law and order. During the Draft riots in the city of 
New York, he rendered efficient service to the city authori- 
ties, for which he was publicly complimented by Mayor 
Opdyke. 

In his dealings with every one, he is a courteous, affable 
gentleman ; and as a legislator, a practical and useful 
member. 



EZRA CORNELL. 



There is a pleasure in tracing the career of men who 
have marched steadily onward, from obscure positions in 
boyhood, to those of influence in later life. There is 
something grand in the course of a man who has chosen 
the undeviating line of rectitude, and always kept it: 
neither to the right nor the left — but straightforward. 
Such a man is Ezra Cornell, whose life is being crowned 
with pecuniary success, political honors, and deeds of 



EZRA CORNELL. 87 

benevolence. Mr. Cornell was born at Westchester 
Landing, Westcbester county, New York, on the 11th day 
of January, in the year 1807. His parents were both 
natives of New England, and both members of the Society 
of Friends. His mother died eight years ago, at about 
seventy years of age, and his father died a few years later, 
in the ninety-first year of his age. 

The early boyhood of Mr. Cornell was spent in aiding 
in the pottery which his father conducted successively, at 
Tarrytown, New York, English Neighborhood, New 
Jersey, and De Ruyter, New York. The educational 
advantages which he enjoyed were very limited. He 
had no preparatory training for a collegiate course ; 
he did not pass through the curriculum of a university ; 
he had no parchment in Latin, showing that he was 
a graduate of college, for his advantages for gaining 
an education were confined to the district school, as it 
was, forty or fifty years ago. At the age of seventeen, 
his scholastic training was completed ; and, for a short 
period, he was employed in farming, a pursuit for which 
he still exhibits great fondness. But agriculture had not 
the scope which such a mind as his required. There are 
some natures which cannot be confined to small circles ; 
their energies are ever on the alert to find room for expan- 
sion, and work which will bring into play their most active 
faculties. Mr. Cornell's mind was one of this peculiar 
cast : acute, vigorous, and inventive, it looked beyond the 
mere formalities of toil, to cause and effect. He possessed 
great mechanical genius. At one time we discover him 
exposing the blunders of a head carpenter who was at 
work for his father, though, as yet, he had had neither 
experience nor instruction in architecture; and soon after, 
a house arises under his unpracticed hand. 

In the year 1827, he went to Homer, New York, and 
engaged in building wool carding machines. Thence, 



88 LIFE SKETCHES. 

during the succeeding year, he moved to Ithaca, where he 
was employed in a machine shop, building and repairing 
cotton machinery. Such was his zeal and real worth, his 
employer, without solicitation, increased his wages, before 
the time, for which he was engaged, had half expired. 
This may seem a trifling incident, but it is an index of a 
strong practical intellect. He next took charge of a flour- 
ing mill, at Ithaca, and held the position for ten years, at 
what was then considered a large salary. During this 
engagement, he evinced a great deal of skill and enter- 
prise in making mechanical improvements, and in building 
a large mill for his employer, in such a manner as to be 
able to run the establishment with but little manual labor, 
so nicely adapted was the machinery. 

When the term of his engagement expired, which was 
in 1840, he entered into agricultural pursuits, on an 
extended scale, which he has never since entirely aban- 
doned. He spent a couple of years in Maine and Georgia, 
interesting himself in agricultural improvements, which 
proved successful in themselves, as well as in the other 
results which grew out of them. While pursuing this 
avocation, his attention was directed to the project of 
building the telegraph. His convictions told him that the 
plan would be feasible, and he soon entered into an 
engagement with Mr. F. O. J. Smith, who had taken the 
government contract for laying the telegraph from Balti- 
more to Washington, in insulated pipes placed under 
ground. Mr. Cornell set his inventive faculties at work 
to construct a machine for laying the pipes, by which he 
could very considerably lessen the expense of the labor. 
In this effort he was successful. But Professor Morse's 
mode of insulation was so imperfect, as to cause an aban- 
donment of an underground telegraph. 

.Mi-. Cornell, who was appointed Assistant Superin- 
tendent of the Telegraph Company, now changed the 



EZRA CORNELL. 89 

design, and, in the place of underground pipes, substituted 
upright poles. This plan was practicable, and the air line 
from Baltimore to Washington, was completed by him in 
the spring of 1844. But public prejudice was strong 
against the practicability of telegraphs. It was altogether 
too wonderful an undertaking for old ideas. But, not- 
withstanding opposition, the determined vigor of Mr. 
Cornell and kindred spirits, carried the enterprise 
through all obstacles, to a most satisfactory termination. 

At different times, he has been Superintendent in the 
erection of various lines, and, generally, with pecuniary 
success. His investments in telegraphic stock have been 
heavy ; and they have been so enhanced in value, as to 
increase his wealth to a princely sum. Thus his far-reach- 
ing foresight, his unyielding perseverance and his honesty 
of intentions, have elevated him from comparative pov- 
erty to wealth. Money is very paltry, in the hands of 
men who are narrow in their views, and illiberal in their 
natures. Mr. Cornell, fortunately, is a gentleman of a 
broad and liberal spirit. His benevolence has become 
proverbial ; and the people have learned to esteem him as 
one of the philanthropists of this State. We can never 
forget that, while in London, in 1862, he generously paid, 
from his own private means, the expenses of several 
soldiers to this country, in order that they might join our 
army, then engaged in putting down the rebellion. 

On his return from Europe, he commenced the erection 
of the " Cornell Library," which has since been completed, 
at a cost of $100,000, and which he donated to the village 
of Ithaca, as a public library, lecture and reading-rooms, 
with an endowment adequate to render it self-sustaining 
and perpetual. 

And when the plan of an agricultural college at Ovid 
failed, Mr. Cornell proposed to the Trustees, that, if they 
would organize upon a broader basis, and locate it at 
12 



90 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Ithaca, he would contribute the sum of $500,000 toward 
the endowment of their institution. This proposition 
resulted in the founding of the " Cornell University," now 
in the progress of erection at Ithaca, to which Mr. Cornell 
has given a valuable farm, the Jewett Cabinet, which 
cost $10,000, and cash to the amount of $500,000. He is 
also devoting his personal enei'gies and time, and loaning 
his means to this institution, for the purpose of purchasing 
from the State the College land scrip, and locating the 
lands, a work which promises to add millions of dollars 
to the endowment of a college for the liberal education 
of the industrial classes. This deed needs no comment, 
except the hearty response of the people cooperating with 
the donor, in making the plan beneficial to our agricul- 
tural and mechanical interests. 

In the years 1862-3, Mr. Cornell was a member of 
the Assembly. He there distinguished himself for his 
comprehensive abilities. In 1863, his constituents recog- 
nized the fact by electing him to the State Senate ; and 
they reiterated their satisfaction by a reelection in 1865. 

On the organization of the Republican party, Mr. Cor- 
nell, who had previously been a Whig, attached himself 
to it ; he has, ever since, been one of its most zealous 
adherents. 

In appearance, he is firm and self-reliant. There is a 
determination around his mouth, and a keenness in his eye 
which forbid the approach of corruption ; and at the same 
time, the sunshine of benevolence emanating from the 
heart within, is reflected from every feature of his face. 



RICHARD CROWLEY. 



The youngest man in the Senate is Mr. Crowley, who 
was elected to the place, which he now holds in that 
body, before he was twenty-nine years old. He was born 
at Lockport, New York, December 14th, 1836. His 
father and mother came to this country, from Ireland ; 
they settled on a small farm, when Mr. Crowley was ten 
years of age. His life, until he became twenty-one, was 
like that of most farmers' sons, of small means, made up 
mostly of working on the farm, during the summer 
months, and attending the common school in the winter 
season. As an exception to the above-mentioned educa- 
tional advantages, he attended the Union school at Lock- 
port, two terms. During the years that he spent on his 
father's farm he had access to a tolerably good school 
district library ; and also studied Latin, and pursued a 
course of reading under the teachings of a friend. He 
had a great taste for history and biography, which he 
fully gratified. When he was twenty-one he left home 
and commenced his fight with the world. He worked 
his way to the West, as far as Kalamazoo, Michigan, and 
" hired out " to teach a country school, in an adjoining 
town. While thus employed, having purchased a copy of 
Blackstone's Commentaries, he devoted his spare hours 
to the study of them. When his school term expired, he 
traveled through several of the Western States, and then 
returned to Lockport. In the spring of 1857, he entered 
the law office of Gardner & Lamont, practitioners in 
Lockport, devoting a portion of his time, however, to 
general reading and the study of Latin, rhetoric and 
mental and moral philosophy. The succeeding winter he 
again engaged in teaching, in order to replenish his 



92 LIFE SKETCHES. 

exchequer ; and, in the spring, resumed his professional 
studies in the office of L. F. & G. W. Bowen, where he 
remained until 1861, when, having been previously admit- 
ted to the Bar in Lockport, he commenced practicing, 
after having formed a partnership with E. J. Chase, Esq., 
a brother of Hon. S. P. Cha.se. He was admitted to 
practice in the Supreme Court of the United States in 
January, 1865, Chief Justice* Chase, presiding. Mr. 
Crowley has had intrusted to him many cases of import- 
ance, concerning property and crime ; and has proven 
himself an able advocate and counselor. In early life he 
took a deep interest in political matters growing out of 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas 
and Nebraska agitation. The result of his reasoning was 
a determination to attach himself to Republican princi- 
ples. He has never before held any public office, except 
that of City Counsel for the city of Lockport. When 
elected to his present place in the Senate, his vote was 
very nattering, especially in the county of Niagai-a, 
wherein he received over four hundred more votes than 
any other candidate on either the State or county ticket, 
although some of the most popular men in the county 
were in nomination. 

Mr. Crowley has made achievements that are certainly 
remarkable. What he now is, cannot be due to ancestry ; 
for like Cicero, when jeered at concerning his name, he 
has felt that he must make his own name, if he would 
have a place for it in the great hereafter. He is a living 
exemplification of the truth : " Perseverantia omnia 
vincit." He is the son of a poor man ; by his own per- 
sonal efforts he has risen from poverty to be an ornament 
to the Niagara Bar ; and the high esteem in which he is 
held, may well In 1 envied by young men Avho have been 
surrounded, all their lives, by much more advantageous 
circumstances. As a speaker and debater he is far above 



CHARLES J. F0LGER. 93 

mediocrity. His language is elegant and forcible, some- 
times almost severely chaste, and his voice is distinct in 
utterance. He was an earnest advocate of the Health 
Bill, and the Excise Law for New York city ; and favored 
the amendment of the Registry Law of the State, and the 
repeal of the contract system of keeping the Canals of 
the State in repair. He has also taken an interest and a 
part in all matters of general legislation. 



CHARLES J. FOLGER. 



Charles James Folger, Senator from the Twenty- 
sixth District, is a native of Massachusetts, in which State 
he was born on the 16th of April, 1818. His ancestors 
were sea-faring men; masters of vessels sailing out of 
Nantucket, and his early boyhood days were spent in the 
wild and free associations of the coast life, which pos- 
sesses so much of romance and adventure. When he was 
a little more than twelve years of age, he removed with 
his parents to Geneva, in this State, where he has resided 
since, except when at intervals engaged in the study of 
law elsewhere. He entered Geneva College in 1833, and 
graduated in 1836, with the honors of his class. In 
October of that year, he commenced the study of the law, 
in the office of Mark H. Sibley & Alvah Worden, at 
Canandaigua. The influence of such a preceptor as Mr. 
Sibley, upon a mind so receptive and active as that of 
his young friend, could not fail to be beneficial, and, 
undoubtedly, a large share of the great practical success 
he has since attained in public life, is to be attributed to 
this association. He also read law in the office of Bowen 
Whiting, at Geneva, and with John M. Holley, at 



94 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Lyons. In 1839, he was admitted to practice at the Bar 
of the Supreme Court, in General Term, at Albany, and 
in May, of the following year, entered upon the pursuit 
of his profession at Geneva. His advance was rapid 
and honorable. A fine personal presence, a studious 
analysis of all the rules and practices of law, a mind 
fully stored with classic lore, and with the very best 
productions of the jurists of all countries, and a persua- 
sive style of eloquence, were the elements of a sure and 
honorable promotion. In 1844, he was appointed — 
under the old Constitution — Judge of the Ontario Court 
of Common Pleas. He held that office for one year, 
and discharged its duties with general satisfaction, and 
then resigned. He was also Master and Examiner in 
Chancery until the Chancery Court was abolished by the 
adoption of the Constitution of 1846. In 1851, he was 
elected County Judge of Ontario county, and held that 
office for four years. In 1861, he was elected to the 
Senate, being reelected in 1863, and again in 1865. 

Mr. Folger has acted with the Republican party from 
the period of its organization, and lias always been a 
conspicuous and able defender of the principles it was 
established to maintain. His influence in his own par- 
ticular section of the State has contributed largely to the 
great popular predominance of Republican principles. 
Upon the F6rum, through the Press, and as a Legislator, 
his voice has alwaj's been earnest for equal rights and 
justice to all. Almost uniformly chosen a representative 
in the State Conventions of his party, he has contributed 
largely to give shape to its general policy. His address 
as temporary Chairman of the Syracuse Convention in 
1865, will long be remembered by those who heard it, as 
a model of eloquence, vigor and terseness. 

In the Senate, Mr. Folger is a recognized leader. His 
opinions are always treated by that body with marked 



CHARLES J. FOLGER. 95 

respect, and even when he is compelled to dissent from 
his peers in judgment, he receives from them the credit 
due to sincere convictions and great ability. As Chair- 
man of the Judiciary Committee, much of the most 
important business of the Legislature passes through his 
hands ; and his extensive legal knowledge, his great skill 
in research, his wonderful powers of analysis, and his 
untiring industry, have made his services in this capacity 
of almost incalculable value. Without derogation of the 
claims of other gentlemen upon the Committee, it is safe 
to say that all will pronounce this tribute to his personal 
usefulness entirely just and deserved. 

The estimation in which Mr. Folger is held by his 
peers, may be judged from the fact that during the ses- 
sion of 18G5-6, he was unanimously chosen President pro 
tern., to serve during the absence of the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, Hon. Thomas G. Alvord. This high compliment 
was renewed at the opening of the present session ; and 
as before, without a dissenting voice. 

The chief characteristics of Mr. Folger as a Senator, 
are his great industry and his unbending integrity. He 
is thoroughly devoted to the duties of his position, and 
labors incessantly, both upon the floor and in committees, 
to perfect and elaborate legislation. The importance of 
this fact is best understood by those who know how great 
are his resources of legal lore. Nobody ever suspected 
him of favoring a bill or advocating a scheme from the 
impulse of selfish or mercenary motives. His mind is 
preeminently that of a statesman. He regai-ds all ques- 
tions from the broad general stand-point of public expe- 
diency and justice, and is able to bring to his use the 
lessons of history and the experience of centuries in 
determining his own views. 

As a speaker, there are few among the many eloquent 
men in the State, who possess so much or such varied 



96 LIFE SKETCHES. 

power as Mr. Folgee. He is a native orator, whose 
innate abilities have been wondrously increased by a 
thorough education and severe discipline. He never 
addresses the Senate without fixing its attention, and 
always utters ideas which are certain to illustrate the 
subject in hand. His wealth of imagery is sometimes 
surprising, and the readiness with which it is employed 
in giving charms to the most commonplace topics, makes 
him a most desirable ally and a formidable opponent. He 
is uniformily dignified and affable in debate ; but the 
trenchant vigor with which he disposes of an antago- 
nist, is frequently inimitable. Never making speeches 
for "effect;" always confining himself to the topic 
immediately under discussion ; and grouping facts, figures 
and fancies with the skill of a master, he has achieved a 
position beside the master intellects of the State, and 
will long be remembered after he shall have left the 
Senate Chamber, for — we trust — higher honors and 
richer spheres of usefulness. 

In personal appearance, Mr. Folger is commanding 
and graceful. His features wear the stamp of intel- 
lect, and advertise the gentlemanly suavity which is a 
predominant trait in his character. His voice has that 
peculiarly melodious inflection which is always ascribed 
as one of the graces ' of the native orator. He is cool 
and self-possessed under every circumstance, and never 
finds himself in a situation for which he has not 
adequate resources. Nobody would suspect him of 
having approached, within a decade, the forty-eight 
years he wears so well. 






JAMES GIBSON. 



Senator Gibson is a gentleman of quiet dignity. His 
long flowing hair and whiskers, tinged with grey, his mild 
eye, which seems to be overflowing with kindly feelings, 
his low, persuasive voice, which is seldom brought up to a 
high pitch, unite in throwing around him a personal 
atmosphere which renders his presence both pleasant and 
powerful. His father was a lawyer of distinction, in 
Washington county, who died when his son James was 
eleven years old. Though in good pecuniary circum- 
stances while living, at his death, his estate netted nothing 
to his family of orphans, who were consequently left to 
fight their own way in the world, their mother having 
previously died. 

Senator Gibson was born in Salem, Washington county, 
New York, September 5th, 1816. His school days were 
passed in the Washington Academy, at Salem, which was 
among the oldest educational institutions in this State, and 
from which some of our leading men are graduates. He 
there obtained a fair classical education. Before the con- 
clusion of his school life, he entered the law office of his 
uncle, Samuel Stevens, a former partner of his father, who 
was, at that time, eminent as a practitioner, and who after- 
ward became one of the leading members of the Albany 
Bar. In 1836, at the October Term of the Supreme Court, 
Mr. Gibson was admitted to practice, and thereuj^on 
formed a partnershij) with Cyrus Stevens, which con- 
tinued one year. At the termination of his business 
associations with Mr. Stevens, he continued his legal pro- 
fession, on his individual responsibility. His qualifications 
were such as to attract the attention of the public ; and, 
in a brief time, he gathered to himself an extended prac- 
13 



98 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ticc. Having no one associated with liim, he, from neces- 
sity, selected but little office business, preferring to act in 
the capacity of an advocate, or as counsel. There were 
exceptions to this, it is true ; but the general burden of 
his labors was made up of those cases which demanded 
careful study and laborious argument. During his life he 
has had charge of a large number of criminal suits, which 
have involved delicate points of circumstantial evidence, 
and in the conducting of which, his almost intuitive 
knowledge of the human passions, has made him both 
skillful and successful. Many important civil controver- 
sies have also been intrusted to him — controversies that 
involved immense sums of money. Among other cases of 
this nature, Mr. Gibsox conducted a protracted litigation 
for the Troy and Rutland Railroad, out of which grew a 
number of suits, upon side issues, in which he was coun- 
sel. The nature of the above-mentioned suit Avas to this 
effect : The Troy and Rutland Railroad had leased its road 
to the Rutland and Washington Railroad — a Vermont 
Association — which had pledged its road, with its rolling 
stock, as security for the payment of its rent. Four years 
elapsed, and the lessees not having paid the rent according 
to agreement, the Troy and Rutland Railroad employed 
Mr. Gibson to commence an action, in the Supreme Court, 
for the purpose of obtaining possession of the Rutland and 
Washington Railroad, and its rolling stock, and reentering 
upon the Troy and Rutland Railroad. In that action, a 
receiver of the two roads was appointed ; possession of 
their property, with the rolling stock, was given to him ; 
and he operated the two roads, for one year. A final 
judgment was obtained, in the action, by the consent of 
all concerned, by which the plaint ill's were to extend the 
time of payment of arrears, and both roads were to be 
delivered over to the trustees appointed for the creditors 
of the Rutland and Washington Railroad. From this suit 



JAMES GIBSON. 99 

sprang an immense litigation, of which Mr. Gibson held 
the threads. On the compromise in the original suit, the 
defendants gave a mortgage on their effects to their 
creditors. About two years ago, Mr. Gibson foreclosed 
that mortgage, the road was bid off by a Boston gentle- 
man, and it now forms a part of the routes operated by 
the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad Association. We 
have cited this, to show the character and importance of 
the business which is placed in the hands of Mr. Gibson - . 

Years ago, he was Lieutenant-Colonel of the 50th Regi- 
ment of Infantry, which in 1S48, was consolidated with the 
•30th Artillery. By order of the Adjutant-General he was 
attached to it, though not in the line, until 18G3, when, 
being elected into the line, he received his commission. 
The Colonel, subsequently, resigning, Mr. Gibson, in Octo- 
ber, 1865, was promoted to Colonel, and still holds the 
office. During the last year, by his untiring efforts, 
the regiment has been furnished with uniforms and equip- 
ments, and under orders has paraded in full strength. It, 
probably, cannot be excelled by any other regiment out 
of the cities. From 1852 to 1856, Mr. Gibson was County 
Judge of Washington county, having previously held 
various public offices. In the autumn of 1865, Judge 
Gibson -was elected to the Senate from the Twelfth Sena- 
torial District, by a Union Republican majority of over 
three thousand. While acting in his present capacity, his 
attention has been particularly occupied by his duties as 
Chairman of the Committee on Claims, and as a member 
of the Committee on Judiciary, both of which combined, 
probably furnish two-thirds of the business of the Senate. 
Some of the reports from the committee of which he is 
Chairman, exhibit close scrutiny with reference to the 
numerous claims which are presented to the Legislature. 
Judge Gibson holds to the theory that the Legislature 
should sternly resist appeals for donations, under the head 



100 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of " equitable" claims, and should bear in mind that the 
State and its tax payers have superior claims on its justice 
and equity ; that it is futile for the Canal Commissioners 
to require economy in the expenditures of subordinates, 
if the Legislature shall constantly interfere, by donating 
large sums to contractors for deficiencies in their profits. 
Last year he carried forward a measure which originated 
in the House, authorizing the survey of the Hudson River, 
from tide-water-head to Fort Edward, and of the Cham- 
plain Canal, from that place to Whitehall, the object of 
which was to test the feasibility of improving navigation, 
for the use of vessels of large tonnage. Mr. Gibson has 
been a warm advocate for all measures of local interest to 
his District. At the opening of the session in 1866, he 
took a strong position in favor of the measures and policy 
of Congress, and introduced a series of resolutions to 
that effect. Though the resolutions, afterward passed, 
were modified in order to form a ground upon which both 
Senate and Assembly could meet, yet the spirit of Mr. 
Gibson's resolutions was retained. He is still true to his 
antecedents, and has emphatically declared himself in favor 
of a Radical national course, in a concise speech delivered 
in the Senate during the early part of the present session. 



ABEL GODARD. 



Senator Godard represents the Seventeenth Sen- 
atorial District. He is a native of St. Lawrence county — 
a section of this State which has always been in the van 
of liberal and progressive ideas, and which has produced 
some of the noblest minds that have shaped both State 
and national policies. The country will always gladly 
pay homage to the memory of Preston King and Silas 



ABEL GODAED. 101 

Weight ; and it is but simple justice to say that, so fax- as 
purity of character is concerned, the mantle of public 
favor and honor, which was once cast on those sterling 
men, has fallen on a worthy representative in the person 
of Mr. Godaed. 

His grandfather, Lewis Godaed, was a Captain in the 
war of 1812, and died while a prisoner of war. His 
father, Hon. Haelow Godaed, is a politician of much 
influence in St. Lawrence county, who represented his 
district in the Assembly, in 1847, '48, '58, and '59. 

The boyhood days of Abel Godaed were mostly spent 
in the Academy, in preparation for a collegiate course ; 
when his preparatory studies were completed, he entered 
the Rochester University, from which he graduated in 
1859. During the same year, he was employed as 
Engrossing Clerk in the Assembly. But that position, of 
course, was merely temporary. It was not his desire to 
be dependent upon no fixed occupation, and, therefore, as 
soon as convenient, he decided upon choosing a profes- 
sional life. He had previously stored his mind with a 
knowledge of the classics and polite literature, and con- 
sequently was, thus far, sufficiently accomplished to grace 
any of the professions. But, being of a legal turn of 
mind, he entered the Albany Law School from which he 
graduated in August, 1861. At that time, it is well known 
that the country was convulsed by the Southern Rebel- 
lion. Places in the counting-room, the pulpit, and at the 
bar, were made vacant by those who, though inex- 
perienced in war, were willing, at all events, to throw 
their bodies in the breach, as bulwarks against the traitors 
of the nation. At the second call of President Lincoln", 
for additional volunteers, Mr. Godaed enlisted as a 
private in the 60th Regiment, New York Volunteers, 
which was organized at Ogdensburgh, New York. At 
the election of officers, he was chosen Captain, and 



102 LIFE SKETCHES. 

entered the field in October following. In the campaign 
of General Banks, in the Shenandoah Valley, Mr. Godard 
bore his share of duty. After the battle of Antietam, in 
which Colonel Goodrich, commanding the 60th Regiment, 
was killed, Captain Godard was promoted to Major. In 
the fall of 1802, he was advanced to the rank of Colonel; 
and in the following year, led his regiment in the san- 
guinary engagements of Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, 
and Ringgold. At the battle of Gettysburg, both his 
regiment and himself displayed the loftiest heroism. 
Upon whatever point they were brought to bear, the 
enemy felt their power, as if lightning bolts had been 
projected into their midst. In front of the regimental 
line of the 60th New York Regiment, after the capture 
of three battle-flags, were found ninety-eight dead rebels, 
including six commissioned officers. At Lookout Moun- 
tain or the " Battle above the Clouds," under General 
Hooker, Colonel Godard and his regiment were in the 
advance line of battle, and captured the first battle- 
flag taken from the rebels in that fight, and General 
Walthal's sword, 'which Colonel Godard presented to the 
Bureau of Military Record of this State. In the conflict at 
Ringgold he was much exposed to danger ; but he showed 
a brave spirit. The bullets flew around him like hailstones, 
yet he led his men against the foe, determined to leave no 
duty undone. When the fight was at an end, there were 
eleven bullet-holes in his uniform. Truly, it seems that 
his was a charmed lite! In the celebrated campaign of 
General Sherman, to Atlanta, Colonel Godard led his 
regiment in the battles of Resaca, Dallas, Allatoona, and 
Peachtvee Creek; and his regiment was the first to unfurl 
the colors over the city of Atlanta. He was honorably 
discharged from the service in September, 1864. 

Colonel Godaud's military life was distinguished for 
great personal bravery. He was always at the head of his 



• W0LC0TT J. HUMPHREY. 103 

regiment, though clangers thickened and. seemed insur- 
mountable ; and it can be justly said that his military 
record has no stain of cowardice upon it. 

In 1865, Mr. Godard was elected Supervisor of the 
town of De Kalb ; and during the same year, the Repub- 
lican party, in view of the hazards which lie had run, and 
the patriotism which he had evinced in the army, and also 
because of his mental abilities, and an ardent enthusiasm 
which was the basis of his character, elected him to the 
State Senate, in which he is Chairman of the Committee 
on Militia and Public Defense, and a member of the 
Committees on Claims and Engrossed Bills. 



WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 



Mr. Humphrey is a gentleman who has had consider- 
able experience in the political affairs of the State. For 
twenty years or more, he has taken deep interest in public 
matters, and has served the people in various positions of 
responsibility and trust. His ability and fidelity have 
been recognized by an election to the Senate — one of the 
highest expressions of confidence which can be given. 

Mr. Humphrey's birthplace was Canton, Hartford 
county, Connecticut. He is forty-nine years of age. His 
father, grandfather and great-grandfather were natives of 
the same town. The original head of the family, in this 
country, were two brothers who came from England, in 
the sixteenth century, and settled in Massachusetts. From 
them have descended the numerous branches of the family 
■which may now be found in every State in the Union. 

Mr. Humphrey's father concluded in 1818, to remove 
from the locality where his family had dwelt for so many 



104 LIFE SKETCHES. 

years, and decided to make the town of Sheldon, Genesee 
county (now Wyoming), Ins future home. This section 
was then the " far West," and when we consider the 
primitive facilities for travel which then existed — when 
the long, tedious journeys of the hardy pioneers, were 
performed on horseback or in lumbering wagons — and 
when it is known that his father had the good old- 
fashioned family of fifteen children, to look after (after- 
ward increased to seventeen), it will be readily believed 
that the change was one requiring a good deal of New 
England grit and perseverance. But the exodus was 
accomplished ; and a new scene opened in the lives of the 
whole family. 

Senator Humphrey's early education was acquired 
wholly in a common school ; but, by extensive travel 
through the States, and much mingling with the bustling 
business world — " keeping his eyes and ears open " the 
while — he has stored his mind with a large fund of 
practical knowledge and information. When twenty 
years old, he entered the military service of the State ; 
and, in 1840, was elected Colonel of the 9th Regiment, 8th 
Brigade, New York State Artillery. In 1844, he resigned 
his commission and gave up all connection with military 
affairs. He married, in 1841, Miss Amanda Martindale, 
a daughter of Major William S. Martindale, of Dorset, 
Vermont, a lady of excellent domestic qualities. 

At different times Mr. Humphrey has held various town 
offices; and during the year 1850, was Marshal for taking 
the census in six of the towns of his county. In 1849, '53 
and '60, he was appointed Postmaster, and, after serving 
awhile, as many times, resigned ; his second resignation 
took place when Tyler proved himself recreant to the 
party with which he was identified. In 1850, he was 
elected to the Assembly, and was returned in 1851. His 
political talents and constant activity gave him a leading 



W0LC0TT J. HUMPHREY. 105 

position in that body. The latter term, lie served as 
Chairman of the Committee on Railroads, and reported 
the Central Railroad Bill, authorizing the railroad con- 
solidation, and establishing the existing restrictions. He 
was also selected by the caucus to take charge of the Pro- 
hibitory Liquor Law passed at that session ; and he made 
an able speech in its behalf. 

Some time in 1855, Mr. Humphrey removed to Bloom- 
ington, Illinois, where he was instrumental in securing the 
return of the late Owen Lovejoy to Congress, against 
Judge Davies. He was, we believe, President of the 
Convention that nominated Mr. Lovejoy. After residing 
in Bloomington three years, or thereabouts, he returned 
to "Wyoming, and resumed business at North Java, from 
which place he removed to "Warsaw, in 1864, where he 
now lives. During the war, he was enrolling officer for 
the government, and was mobbed, by foreign opponents 
of the draft, while in the discharge of his duties. 

Mr. Humphrey was elected to the Senate from the 
Thirtieth District (Wyoming, Livingston and Allegany), 
in 1865, by 5,240 majority over the late Judge Hastings, 
of Livingston. An excellent position was given him, on 
the committees, he being a member of the Committees on 
Railroads, Internal Affairs, and Printing, and Chairman 
of the Committee on Roads and Bridges. He ranks as 
a faithful worker, and one of the best debaters .among 
the non-speech-making Senators. His political views were 
Whig, so long as there was a Whig party, and he became 
a member of the Republican party when it was formed. 
He has been farmer, merchant, and tanner by turns, and 
is extensively engaged in the latter business at present. 
He is a gentlemen of fine presence, and great nei-vous 
energy, of warm friendships and good impulses, and pos- 
sesses talents of a high order, as a political organizer and 
an indefatigable worker. 
14 



ADAM W. KLINE. 



Senator Kline is descended from a family conspicuous 
among the early settlers of Try on county, "within whose 
bounds were enacted some of the bloodiest scenes of the 
Revolution. Its population was mostly located in the val- 
ley of the Mohawk river, having crept westward to the 
sources of that classic stream, previous to the year 1 750. 
Mr. Kline's paternal grandfather was from Germany. 
He first located on lands near Fort Stanwix (now Rome), 
Oneida county, where William Kline, the father of the 
Senator, was born, in 1775. Later, the grandfather moved 
eastward to Fort Johnson (two and one-half miles west of 
the present village of Amsterdam), which he purchased, 
with a large tract of land adjacent. He finally planted 
his homestead a mile west of the fort ; and, when his son 
William attained his majority, gave him a farm and a 
home, only a mile distant, where the subject of this notice 
was born, February 5th, 1818, and where his time was 
spent, until eighteen years of age. Mr. Kline's mother is 
a native of Schenectady : her ancestors were from Holland 
and Scotland. He was favored Avith only the ordinary 
advantages of the common schools of that day, but dili- 
gently improved and cultivated those habits of observation 
and reflection, to which he owes the distinction he now 
enjoys. Before he was twenty-one, he determined to work 
out his fortunes, unaided. Accordingly he left home, went 
to Amsterdam, learned the trade of a carpenter, and fol- 
lowed it, in that village, for ten years, having had the entire 
charge of the business after his second year of service. 

In 1843, a machine for weaving figures into carpets was 
wanted for a factory about to be opened in Amsterdam. 
No one in that place would undertake its construction. 






ADAM W. KLINE. 107 

Iii that emergency, Mr. Kline came forward, and offered 
to take a contract for ten machines. The proprietor of 
the factory hesitated, fearing he would sustain loss by 
delay, hut finally made the contract, on the assurance 
from Hon. John Sanford that, if Mr. Kline did not 
succeed, he would pay the damage. In less than the 
time agreed upon, a most excellent machine was placed 
in the factory and satisfactorily set running. This was a 
turning point in the road to fortune. Orders for similar 
machines were multiplied beyond his power to fill, and 
at once he was in the midst of an extensive and lucrative 
business. From this, he was diverted by a proposition 
made by the Hon. Mr. Sanford, to form a mercantile 
partnership. The terms were too favorable to be rejected. 
Arrangements were consummated, and the business went 
on satisfactorily and profitably. The firm was dissolved, 
by mutual consent, in 1847, when Mr. Kline moved across 
the river to Port Jackson, and engaged alone in merchan- 
dising, having, at the same time, an interest in the scythe 
factory of Mr. Case, in Amsterdam. In 1S44, he married 
Miss Bata A. Simons, of Florida, Montgomery Co., whose 
family came from New England. In 1857, in connection 
with John Maxwell, he built a stockinet factory, about 
a mile and a half north of Amsterdam, which was the 
first one erected in that town. The business was pros- 
perous until October, 1S59, when a fire brought it to 
a close, and the partnership was terminated. He after- 
ward built a similar factory near the railroad, in the 
village of Amsterdam, and ran it until February, 18GG, 
when it was likewise burned. On the same site, he has 
built a large flouring mill, which has but recently been 
put in operation. The business interests of Amsterdam 
arc indebted to no one, more than to him, for their enlarge- 
ment and flourishing condition ; in connection with them, 
few have acquired a larger competence ; and, in the various 



108 LIFE SKETCHES. 

enterprises of life, few, have been more uniformly success- 
ful. He is now largely engaged in the wool trade, in 
Troy, and is Vice-President of the First National Bank 
of Amsterdam. During the late civil strife, he was one 
of the District Committee, whose purpose was to hasten 
the organization of the 115th Regiment, New York Vol- 
unteers ; and was Chairman of the War Committee of his 
town during the war, and no man in that community gave 
more freely of his substance, to support the wives and 
children of the soldiers who were fighting the battles of 
his country, than did Mr. Kline, and he probably did 
more to encourage enlistments than any other person in 
that section of the State. 

His political and official career was commenced at Port 
Jackson, in the town of Florida, opposite the village of 
Amsterdam. In 1849, he was elected Supervisor of the 
town, overcoming a majority against his party of about 
150, and being the first Whig elected to that office, in 
thirty years. Having returned to Amsterdam, in 1853, he 
was elected Supervisor of that town in 1858 and 1859, and 
Mas, both years, Chairman of the Board. In 1859, he was, 
elected Treasurer of the county of Montgomery, having, in 
his own town of Amsterdam, 383 majority, and precisely 
the same in 1S65, when elected State Senator. He is 
Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Manufactures, 
and is on the Committees on Banks, and Roads and Bridges. 
During the Session of 18G6, he was a member of the 
Special Committee appointed by Lieutenant-Governor, 
Alvord, on Federal Relations. As a legislator, Senator 
Kline is practical, vigilant, faithful and honest; as a 
politician, he is true to principle and party relations. 
He makes no pretensions to eloquence, but he can express 
his ideas clearly, and in a manner to command notice. He 
enjoys no small degree of popularity in his district, and 
has the respect of his colleagues in the Senate. 



NICHOLAS B. LA BAIT. 109 

Mr. Kline owes all that he is to his own persevering 
toil. From comparative poverty, he has arisen to affluence 
and power, and he now is among the best business oper- 
ators in his section of the State. He is generous, indefat- 
igable and energetic as a business man, and as a worker 
for his party. 



NICHOLAS B. LA BAU. 



Mr,. La Bau's personelU is really one of the finest in 
the Senate. A person is attracted by his finely cut 
features which are decidedly classical, as well as by his 
polished manners and faultless exterior. He displays that 
carefulness in dress, which marks the gentleman of 
refinement, without creating an impression of superlative 
fastidiousness ; and his rich voice, whether heard in debate 
or in conversation, is exceedingly pleasing. 

He is a native of Trenton, New Jersey, at which place 
he was born, July 29th, 1823. His maternal grandfather 
was born on the Island of Scio, of Greek parents, and 
came to this country while young, settling in Philadelphia. 
He became one of the wealthiest merchants in that city. 
His paternal ancestry were Huguenots ; they left France 
during the reign of Louis XIV, and settled in New Jersey. 

Mr. La Bau is a graduate of Columbia College, New 
York. After leaving college, he studied law, and was 
admitted to practice at the Bar. He followed the legal 
profession until 1859, when, on account of ill health, he 
was compelled to relinquish his professional pursuits. In 



110 LIFE SKETCHES. 

1860, lie had a severe and dangerous illness which confined 
him to his bed for six months ; and he did not entirely 
recover from this attack, until January, 1863. 

Up to the year 1S59, he had identified himself with the 
first Division New York State Militia, and had served in 
almost every capacity — Aid to Brigadier-General, Brigade 
Judge Advocate, Captain New York City Guards ; and 
when his health failed him, he was Lieutenant-Colonel 
of the 55th Regiment. 

Mr. La Bau was an ardent Union man, from the begin- 
ning of our national conflict, and, as soon as his health 
permitted, took an unmistakable position in favor of the 
Administration. He was, at that time, a resident of 
Richmond county, to which he had removed from New 
York, for the purpose of fully regaining his health. 
Richmond county was hopelessly Democratic ; and its 
financial affairs were in the hands of a most corrupt 
ring. In 1863, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolu- 
tion to raise, upon the bonds of the county, a sum suffi- 
cient to pay every drafted man's exemption fee ; and they 
individually said: " Not a man shall go to the war from 
Richmond county." Such a flagrant determination to 
indirectly aid the active enemies at the South, was enough 
to make the blood boil in the veins of any true Union 
man ! Mr. La Bau look an earnest part in favor of the 
tax payers of the county, to break up the strongholds of 
corruption. He was the Union candidate for the Assem- 
bly, in 1863 ; but the Democratic tide was too strong 
against him, and his opponent was elected. In the spring 
of 1S64, he canvassed the county against the corrupt 
Board of Supervisors, and in favor of the reformatory 
movement, which he had inaugurated. His attempt was 
successful ; for all of the Board, except one, were rejected; 
and honest, independent men were elected in their stead. 
In the autumn of the same year, he again ran for Member 



NICHOLAS B. LA EAU. Ill 

of Assembly, but be was beaten by tbe opposing candi- 
date, nevertheless having run far ahead of his ticket. 

In 1865, Senator La Bau's name was brought before the 
people of the First District, as candidate for State Senator. 
After his nomination, the Democratic Committee split on 
the nominations of Mr. Christie and Mr. Havens, both 
factions claiming that their proceedings were regular. 
Mr. La Bau made a thorough canvass of the counties of 
Richmond and Suffolk, speaking to audiences nearly every 
night. Four days before the election, a reconciliation was 
effected between the two Democratic factions, and Mr. 
Havens withdrew in favor of Mr. Christie. Mr. La Bau's 
chances for success were considered hopeless, as the district 
was Democratic by at least 1,800 majority. In fact, Geo. 
William Curtis had, in 18G2, been defeated in running 
for Congress, by a majority of 1,308; and Mr. Christie, 
in 1803, had been elected to the Senate by 1,612, in his 
favor. Mr. La Bau's friends, however, worked tenaciously, 
resolved not to give up the contest until the last moment. 
The result was his election by about seventy majority — 
a most satisfactory triumph, as it demonstrated his popu- 
larity among his constituents. 

In the Senate of 1866, he was a member of the Commit- 
tees on Judiciary, Engrossed Bills, and Roads and Bridges. 
Mr. La Bau secured the passage of a number of import- 
ant measures, during the session of 1866, among which 
were the following : a bill to introduce the Metropolitan 
Police into Richmond county ; another to regulate the fees 
of justices and constables in the same county, limiting 
their fees to $300 per annum, whereas some of those 
officers had each been accustomed yearly to exact from 
$2,000 to $3,000 from the county ; also, a bill to protect 
seamen coming into the port of New York, and to break 
up the infamous system of plundering which was carried 
on by sailor boarding houses. He took the " laboring oar " 



112 LIFE SKETCHES. 

in behalf of the Metropolitan Excise Bill, which embraced 
the county of Richmond within its provisions; and advo- 
cated the conferring of the appointing power upon the 
Governor, in the Metropolitan Health Bill ; he also intro- 
duced and secured the passage of a bill amending the 
general manufacturing law, thereby enabling persons to 
form companies to build and maintain hotels; and another 
amending the act relative to limited or special partner- 
ships, by which young men may now engage in banking 
and brokerage upon the capital of others, invested as 
special partners. 

As a debater, Mr. La Bait is ready and persjncuous. 
His style of oratory is often florid, though not excessively 
so, and his points of advantage and defense are usually 
well selected. Ornate in rhetoric, and sagacious in argu- 
ment, he is an opponent of gentlemanly bearing, and a 
colleague of fine culture. 



ABRAHAM LENT. 



Few public men have achieved a more honorable career 
than Abraham Lent. Modest and unpretentious, he has 
secured a position in popular esteem, which others, of more 
showy accomplishments and greater fondness of applause, 
have striven for in vain. With less of ambition for political 
honor than the majority of men, nominations and appoint- 
ments have been tendered him, not only without solicita- 
tion on his part, but when he did not expect them. His 
course as a representative, like his custom as a man of 
business, lias been characterized by a careful, pains-taking, 
efficiency and straightforwardness, which have made him 
popular, as well as demonstrated his usefulness, and 



ABRAHAM LENT. 113 

endeared him to his constituency. It requires little pro- 
phetic ken to predict for hirn further public service, and, 
perhaps, in a higher arena. 

The family of Mr. Lent settled at Fishkill, in the county 
of Dutchess, at an early period in the colonial history of 
New York ; and his relatives in that part of the State, take 
rank among the most respectable citizens. His father 
came to the city of New York, in boyhood, and engaged 
in business with success. He died about a year since, 
having the gratification of witnessing one son in the 
Senate of his own State, and another holding a similar 
position in California. 

Abraham Lent was born in Pearl street, New York, 
on the 12th day of February, in the year 1815, at the 
very time when the people of that city, as indeed, of 
the entire country, were rejoicing, and indulging in 
mutual congratulations at the proclamation of peace 
with Great Britain. He was sent to school in Yandewater 
street, then one of the most popular and aristocratic dis- 
tricts of the city. His proficiency was very creditable. 
He afterward engaged in the study of the law, in the 
office of Edwin Burr, but, after some time, abandoned 
that profession for trade. His first endeavors were not 
successful, or even encouraging ; but, as fast as one effort 
failed, he immediately embarked with an unflagging zeal 
upon another, and so continued till long past thirty years 
of age. His energy and persistency did not fail, never- 
theless, of yielding their proper recompense, and he 
acquired what was better than mere pecuniary success — 
a wide reputation for upright and honorable dealing. 
Finally, in 1850, he became the junior partner in the 
clothing establishment of the firm of Croney & Lent, 
where he succeeded, by careful and patient industry, in 
amassing a competency. He is still engaged in prosperous 
business. j 5 



114 LIFE SKETCHES. 

In 1859, he was elected to the Board of Councilmen for 
the Sixth District, where he soon had an opportunity 
to display his integrity as a public man. The famous 
Japanese Embassy visited New York, and were made 
the guests of the city. Mr. Lent was a member of the 
Joint Committee of Reception, and distinguished him- 
self by persistently refusing to cooperate in the attempt 
to defraud the municipal treasury, which made that com- 
mittee so notorious over the whole country. Artifices 
were employed, threats and liberal promises of money 
made to him, to lend himself to the knavery, but he was 
not swerved. He was again elected, and reelected, serv- 
ing five terms in all, maintaining the same reputation for 
honesty and ability throughout the whole period. 

To his utter surprise, having neither desired or expected 
such a distinction, he was nominated for the Senate, and 
received the handsome majority of 442 over the Hon. 
David V. Freeman, although the Democratic State 
ticket, at the same election, had a majority of about 800. 
The same admirable qualities which had for five years dis- 
tinguished the Councilman, were displayed to equal 
advantage by the Senator ; and being thoroughly con- 
versant with the affairs and wants of the city of New 
York, he soon acquired an influence in shaping legislation 
which he exercised to the best of his ability. Seldom has 
a constituency been more fortunate in the selection of a 
representative. At the charter election of 1866, Mr. Lent 
was suggested as a candidate for the office of Comp- 
troller ; but, as his Senatorial term would continue a year 
longer, the proposition was not entertained, although 
his availability was generally acknowledged. He always 
secm'ed more votes than others of the same political faith 
who were in nomination at the same time ; acquiring his 
popularity without resorting to the acts of the dema- 
gogue, or even the tinsel accomplishments of the public 



HENRY R. LOW. 115 

speaker. His native good sense has led him to avoid dis- 
play, only directing his attention to official business ; and 
he accepted political preferment as a public duty, willing 
to be set aside when his services should not be required. 
Having a local popularity which has been richly deserved, 
always fulfilling his obligations to the letter, possessing 
an excellent capacity for the transaction of business, and 
being in the prime of life, there is every reason to believe 
that he will continue in public life for many years yet to 
come. 



HENRY R. LOW. 



Mr. Low is of French and English ancestry. His 
father's ancestors, in consequence of the intolerance shown 
them in relation to their religious principles, were among 
the Huguenots who fled from France to Holland, in order 
to escape from the persecutions that were heaped upon 
them, and afterward came to this country and settled in 
the county of Ulster, New York, where they were ready 
to meet and endure the privations of a hardy pioneer life, 
rather than to tamely and servilely submit to the dictations 
of despotism. His maternal grandfather was a staunch 
patriot, in revolutionary times, and served in the American 
army during that trying struggle. Mr. Low's father, who 
died in 1863, was a native of Ulster county, and a farmer. 
He Avas a man of small means, who, by using strict 
economy, was able to support his family in a respectable 
way, and give his children the benefit of a common 
education. 

Senator Low became a pupil at the Collegiate Institute, 
of which Professor Charles F. Maurice was the Principal j 



116 LITE SKETCHES. 

while there his scholarship was of the first grade, and his 
deportment such as to win the esteem of his teachers. 
Professor Maurice, who, by the way, ranks among the best 
educators of this State, discerned in his pupil the germ 
of a fine mind, and knowing the straitened circumstances 
which surrounded him, very kindly offered to pay his 
expenses through college. But boyhood seldom looks 
upon the future with eyes of wisdom ; the patience of the 
young mind canuot always wait for the consummation of 
plans which, in their fruition, shall bring lasting benefits ; 
and, therefore, looking from a stand-point widely different 
from that which is occupied by age and experience, youth 
draws hasty conclusions, and shrinks from attempting that 
which will defer the ready accomplishment of its hopes 
and aspirations. Reasoning from the immature sugges- 
tions which arise in the mind of a boy, and feeling that 
the undertaking, so generously proposed by his teacher, 
would be too great for himself, Mr. Low courteously 
decided not to accept the offer. In looking over his life, 
at the present time, he sees, with regret, that he made a 
mistake in declining a collegiate course which his bene- 
factor had proffered him. Having completed his academic 
studies, at the Normal School in the city of Albany, he 
taught in the common school a couple of years, and then 
organized a select school, of which he was teacher, for 
about one year. He afterward started a similar school at 
Monticello, New York, which was, soon after, reorganized 
as the Monticello Academy. 

But Mr. Low did not intend to follow teaching as a life- 
long profession, hence he began the study of law in the 
office of Hon. A. C. Niven. For a time, he partially sup- 
ported himself by conducting cases in the justices' court; 
but those means were inadequate to meet his necessary 
expenses, and, at last, he was obliged to ask his friends for 
the loan of a sum sufficient to carry him through his 



HENRY E. LOW. 117 

studies. His request was readily granted. Mr. Niven 
was his firm friend at that time, encouraging the young 
student, and aiding him in a pecuniary way. After Mr. 
Low's admission to the Bar, he entered into partnership 
with Mr. Niven, and continued in that relation until he 
was elected County Judge and Surrogate, in the year 
1856. He held that position by reelection until 1862, 
when he was chosen State Senator. He has, for three 
successive terms, been elected to the Senate, though 
residing in a Democratic District. His contest for the 
seat in 1864 with Hon. A. C. Niven, was one of the most 
important and prolonged which has ever been had in this 
State. Both were men of recognized talent, and both 
were influential citizens ; but Mr. Niven was compelled to 
submit to a verdict against himself. 

Senator Low's course has officially been marked by a 
strict and conscientious dischai'ge of duty, a close atten- 
tion to legislative business, and a fearless and determined 
opposition to all* measures savoring of extravagance and 
corruption. He has sometimes been regarded as an ultra 
radical, for which more or less censure has been passed 
upon him ; and yet time has demonstrated the wisdom of 
his views and the foresight of his opinions. From the 
birth of the great idea of the Emancipation Proclamation, 
he was in favor of it; and strenuously urged the arming 
of slaves and the making of war with all the materials at 
the nation's command. With much sagacity, Mr. Low 
foresaw and denounced the treacherous course of Mr. 
Johnson, and also the painful shiftings of Secretary 
Seward; and the ideas promulgated by him in his 
speeches in 1863 and in 1866, though in advance of those 
of most of the leading politicians of our State, have been 
fully justified and adopted by the Republican party in its 
platforms and resolutions ; and his speech in reference to 
the assassination of President Lincoln, is justly regarded 



118 LIFE SKETCHES. 

as one of the most appropriate tributes to the memory of 
the nation's martyr. 

Mr. Low supported the leading war measures enacted 
by the State Legislature for the raising of men and 
money, payment of bounties, buying arms, &c, for the 
putting down of the rebellion ; and was liberal in con- 
tributing for the care and support of the families of the 
soldiers, and providing for the sick and disabled. 

He was the author of the Soldiers' Voting Law, vetoed 
by Governor Seymour, and a supporter of the bill which 
afterward became a law. He drafted and introduced the 
original bill for a Registry Law, embodying the leading 
features of the present act, and was one of its warmest 
supporters. He especially labored for the Metropolitan 
Excise Law, and for the law taxing the shares of the 
National Banks, passed by the Legislature of 1866, and 
supported the Health Bill and Metropolitan Fire Commis- 
sion Bill. He uniformly opposed all canal jobs and canal 
claims, believing the present system to be wrong. Senator 
Low ranks among the best debaters in the Senate ; and is 
an industrious and trustworthy officer. 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 



This gentleman has represented the Third Senatorial 
District for the last six years, and recently received the 
nomination for United States Senator from the Democratic 
Members of the Legislature. Thus placed prominently 
before the public, as the acknowledged representative of 
his party, he is entitled to special notice. 

Timothy Murphy, grandfather of the Senator, emigrated 
to America, from Ireland, in the year 1769, and settled in 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 119 

Monmouth county, New Jersey, where he married Mary 
Garrison, granddaughter of Richard Hartshorne, of 
Middletown, for several years member of the Council, and 
Representative of the Assembly of that Province, and who 
was also proprietor of an extensive plantation, adjoining 
to and including Sandy Hook, which was in the possession 
of his descendants until a recent period. On the breaking 
out of the Revolution, the above mentioned Timothy 
Murphy warmly espoused the American cause, and, with 
the other Whigs of Monmouth, took up arms in defense of 
those principles which he cherished, and transmitted to his 
descendants. He left eight children, four of whom were 
sons, viz. : William, John Garrison, Francis and Joseph. 

John Garrison Murphy married Clarissa Runyon, of 
Princeton, New Jersey, and settled, about the year 1808, 
in Brooklyn, where he died in 1854, in the seventieth year 
of his age, leaving two sons and four daughters. 

Henry C. Murphy, the eldest of these children, was 
born in Brooklyn, in 1810, and has ever since been a resi- 
dent of that city. After receiving a preparatory education, 
he entered Columbia College, from which he graduated in 
1830. He then commenced the study of the law, with the 
late Peter W. Radcliffe, of New York — one of the best 
lawyers of his day, and a man of established purity and 
uprightness of character — and was admitted to the Bar, 
in 1833. In the year following, he married Miss Amelia 
Greenwood, daughter of Richard Greenwood, of Haver- 
straw, Rockland county, New York. Though applying 
himself assiduously to the duties of his profession, Mr. 
Murphy found time to bestow on literary and political 
subjects, and was a frequent contributor to several period- 
icals of the day. He thus early became known in political 
circles, in which he has since occupied a foremost position. 

At the time Mr. Murphy entered public life, the State 
of New York had been long pursuing, in regard to its 



120 LIFE SKETCHES. 

moneyed interests, a policy which had placed the banks, in 
every section of the State, under the control of petty 
monopolists, created by political favoritism. A convention 
of the young men of the day, assembled at Herkimer, in 
1834, to which Mr. Murphy was elected a delegate. On 
its organization, he was appointed Chairman on Resolu- 
tions, and then, for the first time, exhibited that foresight 
and energy of character for which he has since been 
distinguished. He took occasion at once, to introduce in 
the Committee, and subsequently in the Convention, a 
resolution denouncing the above policy, although the 
patronage which it created had been distributed for the 
benefit of his own party. Violent opposition was made 
to the adoption of the resolution, but it finally j^assed, 
with some modification. It was, however, never permitted 
to see the light, having been suppressed in the official 
report of the proceedings of the Convention. Still it had 
its effect. The fact that the resolution had been sup- 
pressed soon became known. The New York Evening 
Post, then edited by the late William Leggett, and 
many other journals, exposed the unfair proceeding, took 
up the doctrine, and gave it a strength and popularity 
which resulted, in a few years, in the utter prostration of 
the system of monopolized banking in the State of New 
York. 

Mr. Murphy was, soon after, appointed Attorney and 
Counsel to the Corporation of his native city, and, conse- 
quently, became familiar with, the nature and operation of 
municipal corporations generally. In 1842, he was elected 
Mayor of Brooklyn. During his administration, he intro- 
duced a system of retrenchment, which actually kept the 
expenditures of that city within its income. He com- 
menced this retrenchment by the reduction of his own 
salary. Before the expiration of his term of office as 
Mayor, he was elected member of the Twenty-eighth 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 121 

Congress, and took his seat accordingly in the House of 
Representatives, in 1843. Although one of its youngest 
members, he at once occupied a high position in that body ; 
and, on the Tariff question, advocated a system of duties 
for revenue purposes only, and thus incidentally indorsed 
the doctrine of free trade. 

On the question of the annexation of Texas, he was 
in favor of the measure, but advised its postponement, in 
order that Mexico might be afforded an opportunity to 
give her assent, and that more unanimity might be secured 
thereby in favor of it in the United States. In view of 
the events which have since transpired, the wisdom of this 
recommendation must be admitted. On other questions 
of public policy, he took an equally prominent position ; 
and, with ability, opposed the alteration of the Natural- 
ization Laws, and demonstrated the inconsistency of such 
a measure with the genius of our government, and its bad 
effects on the settlement of the public domain. For the 
splendid Dry Dock which has been constructed at Walla- 
bout bay, the port of New York is entirely indebted to 
Mr. Murphy's zeal and perseverance. 

The most notable position in State politics which this 
gentleman has occupied, was that of member of the Con- 
vention which assembled, in 1846, to frame a new Consti- 
tution for this State. Here he brought forward several 
important provisions, some of which were eventually 
incorporated into that instrument. His course on this, as 
on most occasions, met the approbation of his constituents, 
and on his return from the Convention, he was again 
elected to Congress by the largest vote ever previously 
polled in his district. 

On the accession of Mr. Buchanan to the Presidency, 

Mr. Murphy received the appointment of Minister to the 

Hague. Identified, as he had long been, with the efforts 

made to rescue from oblivion the early history of our 

16 



122 LIFE SKETCHES. 

State, particularly that portion of it which relates to its 
first colonization by Holland, the selection elicited general 
approval. When the rebellion broke out, Mr. Murphy 
was still Minister of the United States to the Netherlands. 
It was exceedingly important at the time, that the govern- 
ments of Europe should be correctly informed of the 
precise facts of the case, and of the real relation of the 
States to the Federal Government, in order that foreign 
powers might readily see and adhere to their well-estab- 
lished line of duty. Accordingly, Minister Murphy 
addressed to the Government of the Netherlands an 
elaborate exposition of that relationship, and clearly 
pointed out the absolute supremacy of the General Gov- 
ernment in all matters committed to it by the Constitu- 
tion, and the equally absolute rights of the States over 
all matters not delegated to the United States by that 
instrument. He seized the opportunity to show, at the 
same time, that the rebellion owed its origin chiefly to 
sectional hate and the ambition of the leaders. This paper 
was printed at length in the Diplomatic Correspondence 
of 1861 and 1862, and was highly praised by men of 
all parties. Upon his return to the United States, he 
announced his determination to uphold the National flag 
against secession, and was immediately elected to the Senate 
of the State as a Union man. At the State Convention of 
the Democratic party, in 1862, he was chosen temporary 
Chairman, and insisted that all citizens, without distinc- 
tion of party, should support the Administration in 
putting down the rebellion. In the annual oration before 
the Tammany Society, on the 4th of July, 1863, he took 
no less patriotic ground in behalf of the Union. Indeed, 
he was no less zealous in acts than in words ; for mainly 
by his exertions, the Third Senatorial Regiment — the 
159th New York State Volunteers, Colonel Molineux — 
was raised, and the bounties paid to the men, without 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 123 

calling upon either the State, city or county authorities for 
that purpose. Such, in bi'ief, is the history of his action 
in regard to the rebellion. 

Mr. Murphy has been elected three times to the Senate, 
for successive terms, and is now in his sixth year of ser- 
vice in that body. He has taken a conspicuous part in 
all important debates and discussions, and particularly 
distinguished himself in his efforts to repeal the bill in 
regard to ecclesiastical tenures, and to establish the quar- 
antine in the lower bay of New York — measures which he 
successfully carried through. He also was in favor of 
sustaining the different internal improvements throughout 
the State, without regard to the section where they were 
proposed, provided they contributed to the general pros- 
perity. Having always been a strict constructionist, Mr. 
Murphy voted against ratifying the Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States abolishing Slavery. He 
holds that, as the Federal Government is one of delegated 
powers exclusively, and as the subject of slavery was not 
embraced in the Constitution, and was to be disposed of 
only by the States where it existed, the power of amend- 
ment is necessarily limited to the subjects embraced in the 
Constitution, and does not legitimately apply to that of 
abolishing slavery. 

In debate, Senator Murphy always speaks extempora- 
neously ; in argument, he is close and logical ; in manner, 
earnest and apparently severe ; and, when he warms to 
his subject, history, precedent and analogy all seem to rise 
unbidden to fortify the positions he assumes. In private 
character, he possesses, in an eminent degree, all the 
essential elements of a high-toned and honorable gentle- 
man ; and no public man has, probably, passed thus far 
through the trying ordeal of a legislative career, so entirely 
free from the taint of corruption. Though eminently a 
practical man, taking a deep and active interest in public 



124 LIFE SKETCHES. 

affairs — a man of the people — he is a scholar, " and a ripe, 
good one." To the gratification of this taste, Mr. Murphy 
has given much of his time and means. During his travels, 
at home and abroad, he has accumulated one of the finest 
private libraries in America, and possesses the full power 
to appx-eciate and enjoy it ; and however much he may win 
honor and fame as a public spirited citizen, or a successful 
political leader, his claims as one of the literati can never 
be lost sight of, and will constitute his most enduring 
fame. Mr. Murphy's contributions to literature are of a 
very valuable character, and include a number of trans- 
lations from the Dutch language, of which he is a perfect 
master. 



THOMAS MURPHY. 



Senator Murphy is, in every acceptance of the term, a 
self-made man. His career is one of those many illustra- 
tions of the advantages of American institutions, and of 
our form of government. He was born in Ireland, in 
August, 1823, and is, therefore, now in his forty-fourth 
year. His parents left that country, in 1833, and came to 
Albany, where they resided until their death. Thomas, 
at the age of eleven, obtained employment in the cap-front 
manufacturing establishment of Alfred Pierce, in Hud- 
son street, Albany ; and, before he was there one year, 
became foreman over a dozen or more youths employed 
by that firm. 

He soon worked his way into the confidence of his 
employer, who intrusted him with the most confidential 
portion of his business, and before he left that establish- 
ment, had full charge of the delivery of goods to the retail 



THOMAS MURPHY. 125 

merchants in that line of trade, in this vicinity, as well as 
all collections of debts. 

His father died in 1838, leaving nine children, the 
subject of this sketch being next to the youngest. Cir- 
cumstances soon after placed upon him the main support 
of his mother. She died in 1840, and a short time after 
this event, he decided to leave Albany and seek his 
fortune in New York city. 

He left Albany in 1841, being then in his eighteenth 
year, in company with another young man, to seek 
employment in the metropolis. Neither of the two knew 
a soul in New York ; and, after searching in vain, four or 
five days, for employment, they held a council to see what 
should be done. Young Murphy found himself with only 
two dollars in his exchequer, and with the bitter experience 
of a week's efforts to remind him of the poor prospect 
of obtaining work. The heart of his comrade failed him, 
and he proposed to return to Albany. Every effort pos- 
sible was made to induce Thomas Murphy to accompany 
him, but he was equally determined to remain and fight 
out the battle of life in that field. The two parted, one 
returning to Albany, and the other remaining to strug- 
gle, as best he could, against what then seemed adverse 
fortune. 

The second day after their separation, Thomas Murphy 
obtained employment in the hat, cap, boot and shoe store 
of Reubek Vose, in Water street, near Wall. He 
remained there five years, but finding that the obstacles 
in his way were almost insurmountable, and that, not- 
withstanding he applied himself night and day, he could 
not obtain promotion, he left, in 184G, and obtained a posi- 
tion in the store of George Biedge, on Hanover square, 
in the same line of trade. He commenced there, at a 
salary of six dollars per week, and gave such satisfaction, 
that, in four years, he refused a salary of three thousand 



126 LIFE SKETCHES. 

dollars. Ho had, by that time, become so well known 
that several capitalists were anxious to take him in as 
partner. He accepted an offer from a Mr. Lee, and went 
into partnership with him, in 1851, occupying the uppes 
stories of the building in Cedar street, near Nassau, over 
the store of Buckley & Claflin ; a Mr. Aveey was taken 
in as special partner. A few years after, the firm was 
increased by the accession of George Chapman, and was 
then known as Lee, Murphy & Co. 

He remained in Cedar street only two years, when the 
firm moved to Dey street, their business having increased 
so fast that th'ey were obliged to occupy two stores. A 
few years afterward, they removed to Murray street, near 
Broadway, where they remained as long as Mr. Murphy 
continued in business. The firm was afterward changed 
to Murphy & Childs, and, subsequently, to Murphy 
& Griswold. Under this last partnership, the business 
was conducted until the close of the rebellion. Mr. 
Murphy having lost heavily during the financial crisis in 
1857, and fearing another disaster on the termination of 
the rebellion, concluded to stay out of business until the 
return of specie payments, and has since been dealing in 
unimproved real estate in New York. 

His firm, for a number of years, did the largest business 
in that trade in New York, the sales amounting to about 
three millions annually. They had several contracts for 
furnishing military hats and caps during the war. 

In politics, he was a Whig until the formation of the 
Republican party. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia 
Convention, in 185G, from the Fifth Congressional District, 
and there voted for General Fremont. He was also a 
delegate to the Chicago Convention which nominated 
Abraham Lincoln, and also to the Baltimore Convention 
which renominated him in 1864. The first office that he 
ever held, is the position of Senator, which he now fills as 



JOHN I. NICKS. 127 

the representative of the Seventh Senatorial District. He 
was placed by Lieutenant-Governor Alvord on the 
Committees on Finance, Commerce and Navigation, and 
Medical Colleges. He has made a joractical and working 
member ; while he has not shown that brilliancy in debate 
of some of his associates, he has proven himself one of 
the most useful members of the present Senate. He has 
always been identified with the Sewaed-Weed wing of 
his party, and is now Chairman of the regular or old 
Republican Central Committee in New York city. 

In personal appearance, he is somewhat prepossessing, 
being a man about five feet ten in height, stoutly built, 
light hair and florid complexion. 



JOHN I. NICKS. 



This gentleman, the Senator from the Twenty-seventh, 
recently elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resigna- 
tion of Stephen T. Hatt, chosen Canal Commissioner, 
comes into the Senate in the latter session of the term 
without previous legislative experience. But the sterling 
qualities which he is known to possess, will soon make him 
as well appreciated here, as he has so long been, at home. 

Senator Nicks was born at Rhinebeck, in Dutchess 
county, in the year 1822. He is of English descent, 
though, like most self-made Yankees, having been left at 
an early age to fight his own way through life, he knows 
little or nothing concerning his ancestors. 

His advantages of early education were extremely limi- 
ted ; a few months in the rude common school of the day 
was all that he enjoyed. A necessity more immediately 
pressing, than a brilliant, or even an ordinary education, 



128 LIFE SKETCHES. 

made imperative demand on his time and energies. He 
must work — and so was apprenticed with Messrs. Near 
& Hendricks, at Red Hook, New York, to learn the art 
and mystery of a tobacconist. He afterward, before he 
was of age, carried on a little business in that line, in 
Brooklyn, from whence he removed to Ithaca. At this 
latter place, he was, for some time, foreman of a large 
tobacco factory, and also carried on business for himself. 
In 1847, he removed to Elmira, at which place there was 
then no establishment of the kind. Mr. Nicks' resources 
were small, and he opened business in a modest way ; but 
constant success, from the first, attended his enterprise. 
For years past, his business has been larger than that of 
any similar establishment in Southern New York. His 
own material prosperity has increased with his business, 
and, from a poor boy, he has become, at middle age, a man 
of independent resources. 

Mr. Nicks early took a promiment interest in politics. 
In 1844, he staked his all on Henry Clat, and lost. He 
did not thereby lose his admiration for the great com- 
moner, but he wisely concluded to make no more bets on 
elections, and has consistently adhered to his determina- 
tion ever since. The first political office held by Mr. 
Nicks was that of Supervisor from the Second Ward in 
the village of Elmira, in 1851, having been chosen by the 
Whig party of that day. He was afterward, for several 
terms, chosen Trustee of the village, also member of the 
Board of Education, and Chief Engineer of the Fire 
Department. In 18G4, when Elmira was made a city, he 
Avas the candidate of the Republican party, for Mayor, 
but failed, by a few votes, of an election. In 1865, his 
name Avas again used, and his election secured by an 
unprecedented majority. In 1866, he Avas reelected by a 
handsome vote, in spite of very determined opposition. 
lie is now invested Avith the dignities of that office, his 






JOHN I. NICKS. 129 

term expiring in March, 1867. In the prompt, intelligent 
and satisfactory discharge of the duties of Mayor, he has 
displayed his marked executive talent. Under his admin- 
istration, numerous reforms and improvements have been 
inaugurated, until the business matters of the city have 
been reduced to the same thorough system which ever 
characterizes the prudent management of his private 
affairs. 

In 1862, when the present internal revenue system was 
inaugurated, Mr. Nicks was appointed by President 
Lincoln to the office of Assessor for the Twenty-seventh 
District of New York. To the management of this office, 
he brought the same characteristic ability which has 
marked his discharge of every public as well as private 
duty. Out of chaos, he produced system and order, and 
ranked, at Washington, among the best officers of his 
class, in the country. No decision of his was ever over- 
ruled by the Department. The duties of this office he 
was quietly pursuing when Mr. Johnson commenced his 
gyrations " around the circle." Mr. Nicks, like hundreds 
of other Republican office-holders, was true to principle. 
He kept on the even tenor of his way, pursuing precisely 
the same course which he would have pursued under ordi- 
nary circumstances. He neither courted martyrdom nor 
hid from the wrath of the "powers that be." In August, 
1866, after the adjournment of Congress, the Rejmblicans 
of Elmira invited their able and' faithful Representative, 
Hon. Hamilton Ward, to address them on the political 
issues of the day, at Ely Hall. Over this meeting, Mr. 
Nicks was invited to preside. On taking the chair, among 
other remarks he made the following : 

" Ladies and Gentlemen : — You are all aware that I am now 

nllhig a small office in the gift of the Government. But if to hold 

that office I must sacrifice my principles, I say begone with the 

office. I say to you, and desire it may be heard and understood 

17 



130 LIFE SKETCHES. 

throughout the length and breadth of the land, that principle is, 
and ever should be, above office. When I, in my boyhood, learned 
to love that great man, Henry Clay, I was taught by him that it 
was ' better to be right than President.' I say to you, ladies and 
gentlemen, of this platform sent forth by Congress, that in looking 
it over carefully, I feel that I can indorse every word of it. I feel 
that it is asking but little of those men who have combined to 
destroy our Government to submit to the policy of Congress. I 
care not for the position in which this may place me, so long as 
I feel that I am acting upon principle, fearless of all considera- 
tions." 

This was but a few days before the Philadelphia Con- 
vention. Within a week, the head of Assessor Nicks 
rolled in the basket. On the evening of the day of the 
telegraphic announcement of this fact, the Republican 
citizens of Elmira, to the number of three or four thou- 
sand, marched with music and banners, to the residence 
of the Mayor, and saluted him in honor of his adherence 
to principle. The demonstration was a spontaneous and 
heartfelt expression of popular sentiment. A few days 
afterward, when the office of Senator for the Twenty- 
seventh District was made vacant by the resignation of 
Canal Commissioner IIayt, the public voice suggested 
Mr. Nicks as his successor. In the nominating Conven- 
tion, held at Corning, each delegate from Chemung, 
Steuben and Schuyler, as his name Avas called, rose in his 
place and designated him as the candidate of their choice. 
The nomination, thus made, was ratified by the people, by 
a larger majority than was ever before received by any 
candidate in the district. 

In the discharge of the duties of this important station, 
we predict that Senator NlCKS will speedily achieve an 
honorable rank among the eminent gentlemen with whom 
he is now associated, doing Ins full share to preserve the 
high character of the Senate. 



JOHN o'donnell. 131 

Senator Nicks is a member of the same Committees as 
was his predecessor — those of Canals, Grievances, and 
Retrenchment. 



JOHN O'DONNELL. 



Senator O'Donnell is a native of Fort Ann, Wash- 
ing county, New York, where he was born, in 1827. His 
father was of Irish birth, and his mother an American 
woman. His opportunities for education were limited to 
the District School, at which, until fourteen years of age, 
he enjoyed the ordinary advantages, which extended no 
further than reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and 
geography. Whatever else he has acquired (and he is a 
man of excellent information) is through judicious reading 
and careful observation. 

In early life, he removed to Lyme, Jefferson county, and 
in 1849, settled in Lowville, Lewis county, where he 
now resides. Here he commenced trade, at first in the 
line of clothing, but afterward as a general merchant; 
and, by earnest and careful attention to business, gradually 
extended his means, and acquired the confidence and 
respect of his fellow citizens. He subsequently purchased 
the site of two corner lots, in the most central and eligible 
point for business in the village, and erected large and 
commodious blocks of buildings, extending along both 
streets, which have added greatly to the business facilities 
of the place. .Within a year or two, he has withdrawn 
from trade, as a successful merchant. 

Mr. O'Donxell is known at home, as a man of great 
energy and perseverance, and seldom undertakes an entei-- 
prise without carrying it through. It is understood among 



132 LIFE SKETCHES. 

his friends, that he has been reading law for the last two 
years, and that he designs to be admitted to the Bar. 

In 1804, he was on the Republican State Committee, 
a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, which renominated 
President Lincoln, and a member of Assembly from 
Lewis county. In that body, he served as Chairman of 
the Committee on the Internal Affairs of Towns and 
Counties, and was noted for the diligent attention he 
bestowed upon the interests of his constituents, and upon 
all measures of the public welfare He obtained, in various 
appropriations for Lewis county, for building a bridge, 
lock and dam, on Black river, and for the improvement 
of Beaver river, over fifty thousand dollars; also, secured 
the passage of an act removing the Court House from 
Martinsburgh to Lowville ; and was the author of an 
act of great importance to the dairy interests of the 
State : — " To protect butter and cheese manufactories ; " 
and was complimented by the Speaker for carrying 
through every bill which he attempted. 

In 1805, he was elected Senator for the Eighteenth Dis- 
trict (Lewis and Jefferson), against Andrew Cornwall, 
the Democratic candidate, and succeeding Hon. James A. 
Bell. He is Chairman of the Senatorial Committee upon 
Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, and a member of 
the Committee upon Insurance, and upon Public Expendi- 
ture. Mr. O'Donnell reported the New York Excise 
Bill, and was active in securing its passage through the 
Senate; he was the author of the bill to protect "Primary 
Meetings, Caucuses and Conventions of Political Parties ; " 
also of the bill to divide the safety fund of 880,000, remain- 
ing in the Bank Department, among the .bill-holders of 
the Lewis County, Yates County, and Reciprocity Banks, 
resulting in a payment of nearly fifty per cent to the bill- 
holders. During the campaign of 1 860, he was very active, 
and spoke some forty times, at political meetings, held by 



THOMAS PARSONS. 133 

appointment of the State Committee. As a public speaker, 
Senator O'Donnell is energetic, fluent and argumentative, 
seldom failing to fix the attention of a political opponent, 
and always leaving the impression, that he is correct and 
conscientious in his views. 



THOMAS PARSONS. 



In Senator Parsons is seen a good illustration of 
success in life gained over unfavorable circumstances 
and surroundings. Seldom in any other country than 
our own, can humble parentage and the hinderances of 
poverty be overcome, and wealth, position and influence 
be attained. What wonder, then, that they who in the 
old motherland see before them only a future of dreary 
toil and miserable return, seek our hospitable shores, 
knowing that under the freedom of Republican govern- 
ment, the future promises all things to him who puts 
forth eaimest endeavor ? 

Senator Parsons was born in Chieveley, Berkshire, 
England, Januaiy 7th, 1814. His parents were both 
English. A common school education was afforded him, 
until his fourteenth year, when he engaged as a shepherd. 
Four years of his youth were spent in this lowly occupa- 
tion ; and then came a desire for a different field of labor. 
Actuated by this, he emigrated to America in the year 
1832, leaving England, in advance of his parents. By 
some means, he was led to the garden of the Empire 
State, commonly spoken of, in those days, as " the 
Genesee Country," and hired out as a farm hand, in 
the town of Wheatland, Monroe county. Here he labored 
at chopping cord-wood, husking corn, and performing the 



134 LIFE SKETCHES. 

various services incident to farm life, for the very modest 
remuneration of seven dollars per month. About four 
years more were thus spent, and at the end of that time, 
he went to Rochester, where he has since continued to 
reside most of the time. He is now a manufacturer of 
lumber doing a large milling business in that line. His 
mill is located near the brink of the beautiful Genesee 
Falls ; and there, during business hours, he may be gen- 
erally found, busily engaged in overseeing employes, &c. 

In the years 1851, '52, '53, '54, '57, and '58, Senator 
Parsons was a member of the Common Council of the 
"Flour City," being elected Alderman by the Democratic 
party, with which he was then identified. Having done 
excellent service in that capacity, he was, in 1857, elected 
to the Assembly, Avhere he made a good record as an 
efficient, straightforward representative. He severed his 
connection with the Democratic party, in the summer of 
1SG0, sustaining the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. 
His election to the Senate, was the result of an unusually 
bitter canvass, in which Amon Bronson, Conservative 
Republican, nominated by the Democrats, was defeated 
by a majority of six hundred. 

Senator Parsons occupies a good position as a legis- 
lator. He is a member of the Canal Committee, and also 
of the Committees on Engrossed Bills, and Privileges and 
Elections. He is a close observer of the proceedings of 
the Senate, and brings into legislative business the same 
careful consideration which has insured his success in the 
every-day transactions of life. Possessed of good sound 
common sense — a requisite with which all politicians arc 
not gifted — he weighs well his actions, and is always 
prudent and thoughtful, and thoroughly watchful over the 
interests of his constituents. The great commercial con- 
cerns of the State receive his constant and unceasing care; 
the canals more especially, find in him a zealous protector. 



HEXRY R. PIERSOX. 135 

In person, Senator Parsons is about five feet eight 
inches in height, broad-shouldered, and has a well- 
balanced head. His address is pleasant, and his manner 
courteous, but decisive. He is social, open-hearted and 
approachable ; and though a good talker, he makes little 
pretension to oratorical display, and seldom takes up much 
time in debate ; his remarks, however, command attention 
for their earnest directness. 



HENRY R. PIERSON. 



The Senator for the Second District,, is one of those 
men who, by self-reliance and force of character, achieve 
a measure of success, of which others, more favored by 
fortune, come short. He was born in Charleston, Mont- 
gomery county, New York, June 13th, 1819. His parents 
were poor, and he inherited from them nothing but an 
unblemished name, and those elemental qualities which 
enabled him to make his way to an honorable position. 
His early opportunities for acquiring an education were 
only those afforded by the ordinary course of common 
school instruction. At the age of twenty-one, being 
thrown on his own resources, he left home. Determined 
to secure for himself a liberal education, he labored indus- 
triously, and by teaching school, and with trifling outside 
aid, at length attained the object of his ambition. He 
entered Union College, in 1843, and graduated in July, 
184G, with full honors. Choosing the law as a profession, 
he removed to New York, in 1847. The perseverance 
that had helped him thus far, aided him in surmounting 
new obstacles in a crowded city, where he found him- 
self, without fortune, friends, or influence. His zeal and 



136 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ability were such that he was admitted to the Bar, in 
May, 1848. He at once engaged in active practice, and sub- 
sequently formed a partnership with Hon. Aeijah Mann, 
which continued several years. In 1849, he removed 
to Brooklyn. In that city, where he has since resided, he 
immediately interested himself in public affairs, and soon 
became a prominent and influential citizen. Originally a 
Whig, he has been identified with the Republican Union 
party, since its organization. The first official position 
held by him, was that of member of the Board of Educa- 
tion. He was appointed to that position by the Mayor 
and Aldermen, in 1854, and served until 1857. Important 
interests are intrusted to the management of the Board 
of Education, and, in the discharge of his share of the 
duty, Mr. Piee&on fully recognized the responsibility of 
the trust. He Avas reappointed in 1860, and is still a 
member of the Board. In 185V, he was elected Alderman 
of the Third Ward. Until 1860, he represented that ward 
in the Common Council, to the entire satisfaction of a 
large, wealthy, and intelligent constituency. His position 
in the local legislature was one of commanding influence ; 
and, for a 3'ear and a half, he was President of the Board 
of Aldermen. In 1857, he was the Republican candidate 
for State Senator for the Second District, and was defeated 
by the Democratic candidate, Mr. Gardiner, by about 
forty votes. Irregularities, amounting in some instances 
to positive fraud, were alleged to have occurred in connec- 
tion with the election, and Mr. Pierson was urged by his 
political friends to contest the seat. He, however, declined 
to do so, preferring to owe senatorial honors to the will 
of the people, clearly expressed in a majority vote, rather 
than to a technical question of regularity. In 1865, that 
will was thus expressed, by a handsome majority, in a 
district usually regarded as close and doubtful. In that 
year, Mr. Pierson was elected over Calvin E. Pratt, the 



HENEY E. PIEESON. 13*7 

Democratic candidate, by a majority of 1,097. In 1863, 
the Democratic majority in the district was 1,068. In 
1860, Mr. Pieeson retired from the active practice of his 
profession, and was chosen President of the Brooklyn 
City Railroad Company, an office which he still fills. The 
position is one demanding, from an incumbent, much 
executive ability, which Mr. Pieeson has abundantly 
developed. During the six years of his Presidency, the 
business of the numerous roads controlled by the Com- 
pany, has largely increased ; and, while the stockholders 
have reason to be satisfied with the management of affairs, 
the accommodation provided for a very numerous and 
rapidly augmenting population, is superior to that afforded 
at any previous period. Mr. Pieeson - is of large frame, 
and portly presence, and is full of healthful vitality. Of 
a genial temper, warm social qualities, and good address, 
he is that rare and fortunate individual — a popular man. 
As a debater, Mr. Pieeson" holds a good rank, rejecting, 
however, ostentation and rhetorical ornament. He lays 
down his propositions plainly and concisely, and discusses 
them both vigorously and correctly. 

18 



MOSS KENT PLATT. 



Senator Platt was born May 3d, 1809, in Plattsbnrgh, 
a town situated on Lake Champlain, receiving its name 
from his grandfather Judge Zepheniah Platt, who 
moved there from Poughkeepsie at an early day, when 
the country was a comparative wilderness, and who was 
one of the original proprietors of the town. Of Judge 
Platt's nine sons, five made Plattsburgh their permanent 
home. The only one now living is Hon. James Platt, of 
Oswego. 

William Pitt Platt, father of Senator Platt, married 
Hannah Kent, the only sister of Chancellor Kent. Mrs. 
Platt was a woman of superior intellect and mental cul- 
ture. The writer has often heard her relate amusing and 
interesting incidents connected with her bridal trip down 
Lake Champlain, when the only mode of conveyance was 
an open row-boat, and the journey, now performed in a 
few hours during the season of navigation, occupied three 
weeks. This long and tedious journey was, in a measure, 
relieved by her ardent appreciation of the wild beauty of 
scenery, which has charmed thousands of travelers, since 
that time. Her fine countenance — charming even in old 
age, and while suffering from total loss of sight — would 
glow with animation as she related the impression made 
on her mind when her eye first rested upon the grand 
mountain ranges that skirt the borders of this beautiful 
lake. The home to which farmer Platt conducted his 
beautiful young bride, was on the point of land running 
out into the lake, called Cumberland Head, in sight of 
which, occurred the naval engagement of the 11th of Sep- 
tember, 1814. On a bright Sabbath morning, she landed, 
accompanied by her husband and colored servants, and 



MOSS KENT PLATT. 139 

took possession of the Log Cabin prepared for her 
reception. 

Senator Platt's father placed him in a store, at the age 
of fourteen, where he remained until he was twenty-one. 
At that period he entered into active mercantile business, 
and continued in it, seventeen years. In 1847, he was 
induced to engage in manufacturing iron, on the Saranac 
river which abounds in rich mines of ore. These mines 
are situated west of the flourishing village of Plattsburgh. 

Mr. Platt soon perceived that the rough roads of the 
country were serious obstacles to the successful prosecu- 
tion of business in that region. He immediately entered 
into a project for constructing a plank road. It was suc- 
cessfully carried through, and it has added greatly to the 
business of Plattsburgh ; it is, moreover, the only avenue 
of communication with Clinton Prison, in the good man- 
agement of which he has always taken a lively interest ; 
and it is with no small degree of satisfaction that he finds 
that his favorite plan of manufacturing iron by convict 
labor, proves profitable to the State. 

In 1851, the Legislature appropriated $10,000 to improv- 
ing the channel of the Saranac river. Mr. Platt was 
appointed one of the Commissioners to expend the money. 
This expenditure has proved of great value ; the money 
has been returned tenfold to the State, in tolls on the 
Champlain Canal, and has opened a wilderness, now 
rapidly being settled, which must otherwise have remained 
uninhabited for many generations. 

In 1852, Senator Platt was induced by urgent 
entreaties, to engage in a project for constructing a rail- 
road from Plattsburgh to the Canada line, in conjunction 
with an effort made by gentlemen of Montreal to build a 
road from that city to the same point, thereby shortening 
the distance from Montreal to Plattsburgh, twenty-five 
miles. Mr. Platt was immediately chosen director in the 



140 LIFE SKETCHES. 

company formed to carry out the work, and entered into 
it with the vigor and activity so characteristic of him, 
never relaxing his efforts until the enterprise was pushed 
through to completion. He has had charge of this road 
for the last ten years, and is now earnestly engaged in its 
extension to Whitehall, on the west side of the lake. 
When completed, it will give an almost air-line com- 
munication between Montreal and New York, and save 
fifty miles of travel over any other route between the 
two cities. 

Mr. Platt is not easily turned aside from the object he 
has in view, and he meets all difficulties with a determina- 
tion to overcome them. His integrity and unswerving 
fidelity to every trust are well understood, and his kind- 
ness of heart has won for him the title of " Friend to the 
Poor." It may not be amiss to say that he has, from early 
life, sustained an unblemished religious character. 

In the fall of 1S65, Mr. Platt was put in nomination 
for Senator against Hon. Winslow C. Watson, over 
whom he was elected by a majority of fifteen hundred. 
Owing to his popularity he ran very much ahead of his 
ticket. During the session of I860, he introduced and 
carried through the Plattsburgh and Whitehall Railroad 
Bill, which was vetoed, however, by Governor Fenton : 
through his exertions a similar bill has been passed by the 
Senate, during the present session, and ably sustained by 
him in an effective speech. 

He is a member of the Committees on Railroads, and 
State Prisons, and is Chairman of the Committee on 
Retrenchment. 

Senator Platt is emphatically a working man, and 
when he retires from his duties in the Senate Chamber, he 
will have the consciousness of knowing that he has left 
nothing undone to advance the interests of his constit- 
uents, and the welfare of the State. 



WALTER L. SESSIONS. 



Mr. Sessions belongs to that class of men who have 
worked their way upward, in spite of adverse circum- 
stances. Of humble parentage, he has made for himself a 
reputation which may well be envied by many of those 
who have had all the appliances of wealth and influence 
to aid them. He was born in Brandon, Rutland county, 
Vermont, October 4th, 1820. His father was a farmer, of 
small means ; but, having a family of five boys, he resolved 
to sell his farm, and to purchase a larger one, on which 
they could all find plenty to do, and thus add to their 
mutual support. He carried out his plan in 1S35, and 
removed to Clymer, Chautauqua county, New York, 
where he took a contract for a farm, in an unbroken wil- 
derness, from the Holland Land Company. There cer- 
tainly were no surroundings which could excite the 
ambition of any boy. The rudely constructed home; 
the rough implements for clearing lands and cultivating 
them; the lack of decorations from the hand of art; the 
hundred voices of the forests, which repeatedly told 
the story of the solitude around ; and the midnight stars 
which looked down upon the home remote from the noisy 
hum of active business life; all these were the associations 
which hung around his childhood. But there is a voice 
which speaks to the soul alone : mortal ear cannot hear it ; 
but its accents are as winning as that of an houri, calling 
the inexperienced nature to come up through the flinty 
gorges of poverty and obscurity, to a higher plane of life. 
And who shall say that the youth, Walter, did not hear 
that voice, through his days of toil ? But he never forgot 
his filial duties ; whatever aspirations he may have enter- 
tained in his secret thoughts, he remained with his father 



142 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and brothers until he was nineteen, and assisted in cleaving 
land, in order to bring it under cultivation ; and, at other 
times, worked ont by the month, and gave his wages to 
his father, to help pay for the land which he had pur- 
chased. During this time, he was occasionally engaged in 
running lumber down the Allegany and Ohio rivers, to 
Cincinnati and Louisville. On some of these expeditions 
he often met with many adventures, both exciting and 
dangerous, which served to lighten his laborious duties. 

In 1839, Mr. Sessions was sent by his father to Avon, 
Livingston county, to work by the month, where he could 
get higher wages than he could command in Chautauqua 
county. During that year he worked for Captain Shel- 
don, of Avon, being engaged in farming, and drawing 
stone to the Genesee Valley canal, and in working on the 
canal locks. The two following years, he worked for Cap- 
tain George Root and Mr. Stocking. In October, 1841, 
having attained his majority, he determined to acquire a 
good education. Thus far, his life had been spent in 
almost unremitting labor. From the age of thirteen to 
twenty-one, he had attended school only eighteen days. 
This was not owing to any penuriousness of his father, 
but because necessity demanded that the boys should aid 
in paying the debts of the farm, and in supporting the 
family. Young Sessions practiced the most scrupulous 
economy during his minority. While working at Avon, 
which was one hundred and fifty miles from his home, 
whenever he visited his parents, he always walked, taking 
five days to perform the journey. 

Having arrived at manhood, he saw the necessity and 
advantage of acquiring knowledge. He did not think 
that man was a mere labor-machine, with no motive 
beyond the attainment of sustenance ; but he believed 
that in order to rise to the highest rank of development, 
intelligence should be coupled with toil. Therefore, in the 



WALTER L. SESSIONS. 143 

month of November, 1841, he began to attend a select 
school, taught by a graduate of Hamilton College. In 
the spring of 1842, he entered the Academy at Westfield, 
Chautauqua county, where he continued his studies until 
June, 1844, excepting, that during the months of haying 
and harvesting, he worked on the farm, and taught school, 
three months during each winter, thus earning money 
enough to pay for his board and tuition at school. While 
teaching, he improved his spare time in reading Black- 
stone ; and, on the 20th of March, 1845, began the study 
of law in the office of Judge Lewis, Panama, Xew York, 
and continued with him until June, 1849, when he was 
admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. During all 
the time, from his entrance to the Academy until his 
admission to the Bar, the only assistance which he 
received was five dollars from his father, given him in 
1842. 

While teaching, and studying law, Mr. Sessions was 
several times elected Superintendent of Common Schools. 
From that time to this, he has taken a deep interest in the 
elevation and improvement of the schools of the State. 
Mr. Sessions formerly adhered closely to the Whig party, 
until the dissolution of that organization, when he joined 
the Republican party. As a Whig, he was twice elected 
to the Assembly, and was Chairman of the Committee on 
Ways and Means in the House of 1854. He was elected 
to the Senate in 1859, and was made Chairman of the 
Committee on Finance; being reelected in 1865, he was 
again appointed Chairman of the same Committee. 

Mr. Sessions enjoys a high degree of confidence from 
his party throughout the State. Considerate of the rights 
and feelings of others, he wins respect, and wields an influ- 
ence worthy of the ambition of any honorable and aspiring 
man. Patriotic in his impulses and principles, he freely 
spent his time and money in promoting the interests of his 



144 JJFE SKETCHES. 

country during its recent struggle. His energy and 
directness of purpose, ready and general intelligence, 
and his persuasive and extemporaneous manner of speak- 
ing, are qualifications which are completely at his command. 
Being thoroughly informed with reference to State affairs, 
and being an industrious worker, Mr. Sessions makes his 
legislative services of great value to the jaeople whom he 
represents. 



CHARLES STANFORD. 



Senator Stanford was born on the 26th day of April, 
1819, in the town of Water vliet, Albany county, New York, 
His father, Josiah Stanford, a native of New England, 
early settled in that town. During his long life he was 
distinguished for his integrity, energy of character, and 
intelligence. He was both a farmer and contractor. He 
died in 18G2, widely known and lamented. Of six sons, 
five are still living, three in California, one in Australia, 
and one the subject of this sketch. After receiving a 
common school education, young Stanford further prose- 
cuted his studies at the Prattstown Academy, in Steuben 
county, and in the Clinton Liberal Institute, in Oneida 
county. Leaving school, the future Senator devoted his 
time to the assistance of his father upon the farm, and in 
the prosecution of his various contracts. In 1844, he took 
a large contract upon his own responsibility, in the city 
of Albany, to grade the ravine then known as the Hudson 
street hollow. This enterprise proving a success, was fol- 
lowed by contracts upon the Pittsfield and North Adams, 
and the Hudson River Railroads. While engaged upon 
the Hudson River Railroad, an incident occurred, bringing 



CHARLES STANFORD. 145 

out the characteristics of the man, and the qualities which 
have given him success in the world. Owing to sharp 
competition, the contracts were all taken low. After a 
partial performance, nearly all the other contractors aban- 
doned their contracts, and the railroad company informed 
Mr. Stanford that he would be permitted to abandon his. 
His reply was, "I take no contracts to throw up;" and 
he finished his work, making a fair profit, where the others 
predicted a loss. 

In 1850, he went to California, then just opening it3 
gates of golden promise to the world. His brothers, 
either accompanied or soon followed him. In connection 
with, we believe, three of them, he founded a commercial 
house, which soon rose to be one of the largest and 
wealthiest upon the Pacific coast. The firm of Stanford 
Brothers, then first organized, still exists, the Senator 
remaining at its head. Neither disastrous fires, nor finan- 
cial panics, have disturbed its solidity, though a loser by 
both. It has established branches in different parts of 
California. In 1859, in connection with two of his 
brothers, he established a large commercial house in Mel- 
bourne, Australia, and soon after, branches in Sidney and 
New Zealand. The trade of these several houses is very 
large. One of his brothers, the Hon. Leland Stanford, 
was elected Governor of the State of California, in 1861, 
and held the office for two years. He is the President of 
the Central Pacific Railroad, now being rapidly con- 
structed, and soon about to form the extreme western link 
of the great chain of railroads across the continent. 

In 1S54, the interests of his firm requiring that one of 
its members should reside near New York city, Mr. Stan- 
ford returned to the State of New York, and, in 1861, 
took up his residence in Schenectady county, purchasing 
a large farm in the town of Niskayuna, where he has since 

resided. In 1863, he was elected by the Republican party 
19 



146 LIFE SKETCHES. 

to represent his county in the Assembly. He was a 
member of the Committees on Public Lands and Public 
Printing. He was again elected in 1864, and was made 
Chairman of the responsible Committee on Railroads. 
He was chosen a delegate to the Baltimore Convention in 
1864, and voted for the renomination of President Lin- 
coln'. In the fall of 1865, he was prevailed upon to accept 
the Republican nomination for Senator of the Fourteenth 
District. This district was composed of Schenectady, 
Schoharie and Delaware counties, and, according to the 
previous elections, was largely Democratic. He was 
elected, however, by a majority of 1,614. This result 
was as gratifying to the friends of Mr. Stanford, as it was 
unexpected to his opponents. During this campaign, 
he established the Schenectady Daily Union: he still 
remains its proprietor. It is one of the handsomest daily 
papers in the State, is conducted with enterj)rise and 
talent, having done much to change the county of Schen- 
ectady from one of doubtful politics, to a Republican 
stronghold. 

Mr. Stanford is now in the prime of life. He is a man 
of robust and portly frame, fine presence, and an easy 
dignity of manner. In the Senate, he is a working, rather 
than a talking member. He is a member of the Commit- 
tees on Commerce and Navigation, Agriculture, and the 
Erection and Division of Towns and Counties, being 
chairman of the latter committee. It need hardly be said 
that he is a man of strong common sense, great energy of 
character, firmness of purpose, and untiring industry. 
With him obstacles arc the things to be surmounted, not 
hinderances to advancement. A conviction that a measure 
is right, secures for it his support ; and though the mea- 
sure may, for the moment, be unpopular, his support of it 
is none the less zealous ; he is willing to wait for justice. 
To his other qualities he adds an integrity that is unques- 



EDMUND G. SUTHERLAND. 147 

tioned, and a private character above reproach. The 
schemes of corruption which are but too frequently the 
objects of legislative favor, find in Mr. Stanford neither 
advocate nor friend. Too rich to desire a bribe, and too 
honest to take one, he is a good type of the public servant, 
whom the State can illy spare. 



EDMUND G. SUTHERLAND. 



Mr. Sutherland is Senator from the Eighth District. 
He was born in the town of Plymouth, Chenango county, 
in this State. His father, Silas Sutherland, was a native 
of Vermont, of Scotch descent ; he held a commission in 
the volunteer forces of this State, in the war of 1812, and 
served on the northern frontier under General Gaines ; at 
the sortie from Fort Erie, he Avas wounded in the left arm 
by a piece of a bomb shell. His grandfather, John 
Sutherland, was a millwright, and built the mills on 
Otter Creek, in Rutland county, Vermont, known as 
" Sutherland's Mills." 

His mother was a native of New England, of English 
Puritan descent ; and her father, Philemon Tiffany, was 
at the battle of Bunker Hill, and served in the ranks of 
the army till the close of the Revolutionary struggle. 

Owing to the limited circumstances of his family, 
Senator Sutherland was not favored with those facilities 
for an early education which are within the reach of the 
more favored youths of the present day, and was forced 
to content himself with the scanty instruction imparted at 
district schools, at interrupted intervals, in Tompkins, 
Cortland, Monroe and Madison counties, where his parents 
successively resided, these schools being generally kept in 



148 LIFE SKETCHES. 

log school houses, which distinguished that section of our 
State, at that day. In 1830-31, lie attended the winter 
term of the Polytechnic Academy at Chittenango, and, 
"graduating 1 ' in the spring entered the printing office 
of the Troy Statesman, a weekly political paper which 
was then started by a half-brother, Thomas Jefferson 
Sutherland, who in 1838 figured somewhat conspicuously 
in the Canadian " Patriot Avar." The publication of the 
Statesman was continued but one year; after which 
time the young printer went to North Adams, Berkshire 
county, Mass., and worked for another year in the printing 
office of the Berkshire Advocate, a National Republican 
paper. This paper also, like many similar enterprises of 
that description, sank to premature decay ; and the pro- 
prietor, preferring the free State of New York to the 
"imprisonment for debt " statutes of Massachusetts, made a 
secret assignment of the Advocate and its assets to his 
printer and another creditor, Doctor Elihu S. Hawks, and 
left for this State, leaving behind a batch of personal 
and ill-natured editorial and other articles, for the forth- 
coming issue of the "Advocate," which was duly put 
to press under the imposing firm name of " Hawks & 
Sutherland, Assignees." In justice to Doctor Hawks, it 
should be said he was not consulted as to the character of 
the contents of this issue. The edition was only partly 
worked off and sent out, when that usually quiet little 
village was thrown into considerable excitement; the 
establishment was taken abrupt possession of by Doctor 
Hawks and his friends, the junior "partner" put under 
arrest for libel, and the columns of the Advocate, charged 
with censure and invective, turned upon the late but 
absconded editor. The excitement partially died away in 
a few days, and the complaint was dropped ; the printer, 
a youth of nineteen, not being held to account for the acts 
of the real offender. 



EDMUND G. SUTHERLAND. 149 

In the fall of 1834, Mr. Sutherland went to Haver- 
straw, Rockland county, N. Y., and worked in the office 
of the North River Times — a paper started in the 
interest of the Whig party, which was then organized 
by a fusion of the National Republican and Anti-Masonic 
parties. He remained there, in the mixed capacities of 
journeyman, foreman, and proof-reader, for two years, at 
the end of which time (in the fall of 1836) he sailed for 
New Orleans, where he worked on the New Orleans 
Observer, a weekly Presbyterian publication, the office of 
which was burned, on the 1st of January, 1837; then on 
the True American, and read proof, as an occasional pas- 
time, for George W. Kendall who was the chief writing 
editor of the New Orleans Picayune, which was started 
that winter by Kendall & Lumsden. In the mean time, 
he was induced to become interested, with three other 
young men, in fitting out one of the first vessels (a sloop) 
which sailed for Galveston on the conclusion of the 
armistice between Mexico and Texas, with a cargo of 
groceries and provisions, which proved to be a profitable 
venture ; a second cargo was sent to Houston, with a like 
result. In the latter part of May, he returned North, by 
steamers, up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, to Louisville, 
and Cincinnati, crossing through Ohio, by way of Colum- 
bus, and over the Alleganies, down to Baltimore by stage- 
coach ; and, in the fall of 1837, accepted the situation 
of foreman in the office of the Hudson River Chronicle, 
then being started by the late Alexander H. Wells, at 
Sing Sing, Westchester county. This situation he held 
till the spring of 1840, when, Mr. Wells having been 
appointed Surrogate of the county, he purchased Mr. 
Wells' undivided interest in the paper, partly on account 
of arrears of wages due, and published it till 1844, selling 
his interest so acquired therein to James B. Swain. In 
the summer and fall of that year, in the interest of his 



150 LIFE SKETCHES. 

friends, lie published a campaign paper, called The Pro- 
tector, which supported the nomination of Henry Clay, 
for the Presidency. 

In 1843 and '44, Mr. Sutherland read law in the office 
of Messrs. Ward & Lockwood, though he never followed 
the legal profession. On the 1st of May, 1845, he estab- 
lished the Eastern State Journal, at White Plains, which 
he has continued to publish, as a Democratic paper, to the 
present time, and which is the leading Democratic organ 
of Westchester county, and yields a handsome income. 
During the first eleven months of this publication, he had 
associated with him his half-brother, General Thomas Jef- 
ferson Sutherland, now deceased. In 1853 and '54, Mr. 
Sutherland held the office of Superintendent of Common 
Schools for the town of White Plains. 

He was elected member of Assembly from the Second 
District of Westchester in 1856, and was a member of the 
Printing Committee and also of the Select Committee 
on Census, at the session of 1857. The following year, he 
was returned to that body, in which he was Chairman of 
the Committee on State Prisons, and was a member of the 
Committee on Railroads. 

At the annual session of the Board of Supervisors of the 
county of Westchester, in 1858, he was elected Clerk of the 
Board, and reelected for three successive years. In 1862, he 
was elected Supervisor of the town of White Plains, and 
successively reelected, holding the office to the present time. 
He was Chairman of the Board in 1863, '64 and '65. The 
duties of the office of Supervisor were onerous and respon- 
sible during the continuance of the late war; and the 
raising and disbursing of moneys to fill the town's quotas 
of men for the United States service, in order to avoid 
the necessity of drafts, and the care and distribution of 
moneys to the families of volunteers, were duties dis- 
charged to the satisfaction of all. He has frequently been 



AX DREW DICKSON WHITE. 151 

6ent as a Delegate to Democratic State Conventions, since 
1850, and was a member of the Democratic State Com- 
mittee, in 18G2. 

Mr. Sutherland was elected to the present Senate in 
1865, and was appointed on the Committees on Railroads, 
State Prisons, and Printing, which places he now holds. 
Pie is a gentleman of commanding appearance and fine 
social qualities ; is a cool and discreet politician, true to his 
party, possessing much tenacity of purpose, and conse- 
quently exercises a controlling influence in the political 
affairs of his county and senatorial district. Mr. Suther- 
land is one of the five Democrats in the Senate. 



ANDREW DICKSON WHITE. 



Mr. White is one of the youngest members of the 
Senate, and, in the influence fairly won by him in strength 
of view of the questions of chiefest interest in the pro- 
gress of the times, typifies the rule of young men to 
which public opinion is framing itself. lie was born in 
the village of Homer, in the county of Cortland, Novem- 
ber 7th, 1832. His family were of those who came thence 
from New England, bringing with them its sagacity, its 
power of adaptation to the circumstances of a new 
country, and that vigor which goes upward with the 
advance of the community in which they dwell. 

In 1839, Mr. White's father, Horace White, Esq., 
removed to Syracuse, and became the Cashier of the Bank 
of Syracuse. He made himself one of that city's most 
prominent and influential citizens, winning opulence by the 
power of sagacious judgment and energetic acts, identi- 
fying himself with its good name, attached to good men 



152 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and good objects in its midst; and, with all tins, sensible, 
to a degree seldom known in the walks of private life, of 
the full worth and value of all that belongs to a trained, 
thorough completeness of education ; a judgment and a 
taste which he made practical in the culture which he 
bestowed on his son, the subject of this sketch ; and that 
son's success and honors, and his position and the respect 
and confidence of his fellow men, have worked out the 
full measure of his father's reward. 

His son passed through a variety of schools. The 
Academies of Syracuse, Ballston and Moravia, gave him 
the pre-collegiate training. The study he pursued at the 
latter, was parenthetical between his collegiate life, com- 
ing after a year at Hobart, and just before his residence at 
Yale. 

The colleges, both of them, made their depth of impres- 
sion upon Mr. White's thought. President Hale was a 
man that met all the difficulties of his position — and they 
were, in his day, formidable — with the energy, and with 
the good way and will of a kindly scholar. He had occa- 
sion for firmness, and he used it. He had a love for the 
beautiful, and he led the way to it. It has been Mr. 
White's most grateful duty to utter words of graceful 
eulogy over the grave of this scholar, and he gladly 
availed himself of the opportunity. 

At Yale, Mr. White found all the educational facilities 
which an accumulated opulence of endowment can furnish, 
and under these influences, men are independent, and 
avouch a truth, or adhere to it for its own sake. The 
scholar has his true relation with his teacher. Whoever 
went to Yale, willing to learn, found the facility; who 
went there evidencing the will and the capacity, found 
at once the assistance and the trial. Prizes were gained, 
not given. A student must show that the power was in 
him, or the keen ordeal would soon efface hope of success. 



ANDREW DICKSON WHITE. 153 

Yale College has greatly advanced in the last years, but it 
was, at the day of Mr. White's student life, a College far 
in the front. It had not the precise scholarship of Harvard, 
When a nicety of position of a doctrine would be argued, 
even if the doctrine itself was but a secondary one, when 
established in its very place. There is an ideal in some 
scholarship which is fastidious of rule, and text, and tra- 
dition. Yale sought to grasp boldness, even if the grasp 
must needs afterward be relaxed, for better similitude to 
usage. It had a free thought in its substance, even at that 
period when it was thronged by those who, from their geo- 
graphical position, and their sectional heresies, were found 
against that judgment of the true status of man, which 
the events of our own day have made an universal truth. 
The love toward learning was developed in Mr. White in 
the training of Yale. He received its impress, and he 
left honorable memories — memories which more than lin- 
ger there yet, and which, but recently, most honorably to 
Yale and to its alumnus, reasserted themselves. Its con- 
tests for honors found Mr. White successful in so many 
instances, that his record in Yale may not be omitted in 
any just delineation of his career. Upon the theme of the 
" Greater Distinctions in Statesmanship," he won the Yale 
Literary gold medal, open to the entire College, and the 
Clark prize of the Junior Class, for his essay upon the 
"True Basis of Citizenship in the Republic ;" and the De 
Forest gold medal, in the senior class, for the oration 
upon the "Diplomatic History of Modern Times." These 
utterances were not lightly heard, for they touched those 
themes which were the breathings of the great voice, 
which have been left to our own day to proclaim so that 
the nations hear. 

There is at Yale, the institution of a magazine embody- 
ing the current thought — giving home to the literature 
of the College — the threshold over which many bright 
20 



154 LIFE SKETCHES. 

hearts step timidly, before they walk thereafter in power. 
Of this, he was chosen Editor, and so continued until 
the day of his graduation. His election was opposed. 
There was in him, it was said, opinions that questioned 
whether a slave-holding republic, was not, in itself, a denial 
of itself. He had not consented to all compromises. He 
had believed that whatever older men might seek of calm- 
ness — preferences of the prosperous to the perilous, he 
must believe in the truth of the education he was receiving, 
and deny the attempted synonym, that American slavery 
was but another term for American liberty — nor did he 
seek to escape this charge ; and in their belief of his truth, 
or his independence, or his ability, or all three of them, his 
fellow-students elected him — and an election by young 
men is worth something. They are not often mistaken in 
their associates of every hour. 

When it came to the exercises of the Commencement 
Hay, he selected the theme of " Modern Oracles," and 
made the wise illustration of what John Quincy Adams 
had said. Whoever will read what that most distin- 
guished man did say, in the clearness of his vision, when 
the door of Texas was to be opened through the aggres- 
sions which Southern men made, will see that his words 
were like those of an Oracle. Mr. White could not have 
made a more accurate selection. The prophet lived not 
to see the morning hour of the revolution, for which his 
courage had been the very life ; but this country can never 
forget his truth of judgment, as to the event. Of course 
there was a division of sentiment, at New Haven, whether 
Mr. White was just or prudent in his course, but he won 
friendships among the Scholars there, which are yet in all 
their kindly force. 

The same care for the thoroughness of education, gave 
Mr. White, so soon as he left college, the opportunity of 
visiting Europe ; and he transferred his studies, during the 



ANDREW DICKSON WHITE. 155 

three years that he remained there, to the University of 
Berlin, and the College of France. The elaborate scholar- 
ship of the Old World is a good exercise for the young 
mind of America. It teaches what a new country is so 
slow to learn, — the value of patience. We are a people 
who cannot bear the idea of waiting during three hundred 
years, to build our St. Peter's. It must, from foundation to 
cross, be built " in our day." Not so does Europe tell the 
scholar. He must learn thoroughly so that he shall know 
accurately. All these words it is well for the American 
student to hear. They were heard and weighed, and 
remembered by Mr. White. To this added intellectual 
training, he gave the result of an extended tour all over 
Europe, with the episode of a diplomatic service, as 
attache to the legation of Gov. Seymour, of Connecti- 
cut, then representing this country at St. Petersburgh. 
That was the day of European war, of terrible struggle 
over the key to the East (so soon again to disturb the 
world). Then, while wielding the power of his great 
armies, the Emperor died ; and in the train of this event, 
which startled all Europe, came the splendor of the cor- 
ronation of Alexander II, with its gorgeous ceremonial, 
blending the grandeur of both continents, and, in itself, an 
era in Russian history. Of all this, Mr. White was a 
spectator, and this chapter in man's theory and practice of 
power was attentively studied by him, as by a thoughtful 
and appreciative man. Mr. White described these scenes. 
The narration he gave of them, was read in this country in 
wide circulation ; and, as it was a European and an Orien- 
tal pageant in the delineation of an American, it had 
deserved popularity. 

He returned home in 1856; and, accepting the pleasant 
memories of former days of student life, he went again to 
New Haven, studying law and history. It was at that 
time that a very pleasant incident reminded him of his 



156 LIFE SKETCHES. 

home. His reputation had established itself there, and he 
who wins the voice of the home life, conquers prejudices 
and establishes character. 

New Haven was not content with a cold system of 
theoretical education, touching the intellect only. There 
had arisen there, and been in practice, a system of care for 
the poor both of city and county, which in its workings 
had attracted the attention of the city of Syracuse. It 
bore the name of the Brewster plan. Mr. White was 
selected to make such investigation of it as would give 
access to its work. He did so, and his report received pub- 
lication. That for this duty, which in its nature recpiired 
accuracy of judgment, so that the sympathies should not 
go beyond their line — a work which was so likely to be 
affected by attachment to an old policy or rashness in 
innovation — that Mr. White was selected by the city of 
his boyhood for this, those who know what is included in 
local difficulties of estimation, knew the honor was solid 
and valuable. 

For the study of history Mr. White showed his taste. 
He wrote of it. He reviewed and deliberated, and 
analyzed. He grasped the large labors of the scholars 
who had written the World-History and the Universal 
History, receiving their bias and direction, as the German 
or the Italian mind delineated. 

It was an honor, indeed, to be selected as worthy of the 
Professorship of History in the University of Michigan. 
Of that University the world has already heard. It shall, 
by the power that it is even now in process of developing, 
hear more. To this Professorship Mr. White was chosen. 

Established early in the history of a State, so new 
itself that its citizens are older than the commonwealth, 
grandly endowed by a liberality that made the beautiful 
and fertile earth at once to be in ministry to the intel- 
lectual, it holds its place among the great institutions of 



ANDREW DICKSON WHITE. 157 

learning, by a title that claims the rank of high scholar- 
ship. It has a most numerous student life within it — the 
young men of a young nation. To such a gathering, Mr. 
White poured out the lessons of history, giving his free 
and hopeful interpretation to all problems that the annals 
of our land present — mysteries then — revelations now. 
To these modern men, so fresh and earnest, he pictured 
the contrast — the education of the development of civil- 
ization in the middle ages — of the reformation of France 
before, and of France after, the revolution. In the grasp 
of Mr. White's learning, and in the force of his views of 
men, and what is the right of man's condition, these lec- 
tures were incisive. They went on and beyond cold writ- 
ing in old ways, and asserted their lessons of freedom's 
struggles and freedom's victory. In Boston, where so 
much of our literature has found its home, there is a maga- 
zine published which has been of the best of American 
magazines. We will not assign to it the first place, because 
our article does not give us the privelege to decide. But 
no man can dispute its intellectual power. To this maga- 
zine Mr. White became a contributor. He drew out the 
historical truths that came so strongly in the words Jef- 
ferson and Slavery — a theme whose just grasp requires 
close historical knowledge. Pie described the statesman- 
ship of Richelieu, and pointed to the decline of the serf 
system of Russia, 

In 1863, Mr. White went upon a semi-official mission to 
Europe, remaining a few months. The country was in 
the wild work of war. It was proving its strength. It 
was misunderstood. It was depreciated. It was the very 
hour for a learned and eloquent man to avouch its cause, 
and this Mr. White did vigorously. He spoke at meet- 
ings in London. He wrote what he, with just appreciation 
of the patriotism of that great section of our country, 
designated as " A Word from the Northwest." He vindi- 



158 LIFE SKETCHES. 

catecl his country and upheld its honor. He was himself a 
proof that in our war for freedom, we had not forgotten the 
charms of delicate and elaborate learning. 

Returning from Europe, his own immediate fellow men, 
those who had known him best, called him to the repre- 
sentation of the Onondaga District in the Senate of New 
York. He was triumphantly elected and reelected, at a 
time when the whole elective power of the country was 
stirred to its depths. Mr. White gave unchanging sup- 
port to the administration of President Lincoln, and 
followed his country with the same afFection, as well in 
temporary defeat as in abiding victory. He spared no 
word or effort to make the arms of the Republic, those of 
the conqueror, and gave the army his enthusiastic good 
will and good wish. In the Senate, Mr. White took, at 
once, a prominent place, being welcomed to especial trust 
over all the departments of education and literature. His 
voice is heard as that of a man of thought and study, 
capable, as so few men of thought and study are, of mak- 
ing it effective, and proving it agreeable. His service in 
the Senate has found no limit of action. It has found 
foremost place in all measures which he believed to be 
of good government, as well for the great city as for 
the State, and especially in those measures in which he 
thought he saw the safety and relief of so many of the 
poor and sick and suffering — the Health Bill, and the bill 
for the organization of the Hudson River Asylum for the 
Insane. 

In I860, Mr. White delivered at New Haven, before 
the Phi Beta Kappa Society, an oration of remarkable 
force, on the theme, that the worst foe of a State was an 
aristocracy founded on the subjection of an inferior class. 

Yale College, after this, called him, in the most flatter- 
ing manner, by its best and its worthiest, to the delightful 
duty of the direction of its art department. But this, and 



ANDREW DICKSON WHITE. 159 

other most agreeable places, Mr. White has declined, to 
devote himself to the charge of the Cornell University, to 
whose head, young as he is, he has, with the acceptance 
of all friends of education, been called. To build up a 
great University in New York, has been one of the dreams 
of his life; and to receive its direction, its compass, its 
influences for the ages, from his care of its initiative, is all 
before him. To this high duty his friends know him to be 
equal ; and the choice of him as President, is regarded as 
New York calling one of its own scholar sons to its honors. 
Mr. "White is yet young. His life's history is to be 
written. He has already made himself a name in learn- 
ing, in literature, in statesmanship. As it looks to mortal 
eye, his life concentrates great responsibilities, for its priv- 
ileges have been many, its advantages remarkable, its 
honors early. We believe these responsibilities will find 
intelligent fulfillment, and Western New York will record 
it in her proudest annals, that, although her territorial life 
is so neAV that the memories of the forest are yet fresh, she 
has furnished to the University which adorns her lake side, 
of her own native born, a scholar in his own right, and 
master of accumulated learning. 



EDWARD G. WILBOR. 



Chatham, Columbia county, New York, is situated 
in an exceedingly picturesque portion of this State. 
Meadows lie nestled in valleys which are divided by clear 
streams ; pasture lands upon hillside slopes stretch upward 
to the edges of forests ; timberland crowns the summits 
of mountain spurs ; and handsome villages hold no small 
degree of beauty and intelligence. In fact, it is just the 
spot for a home around which cluster the memories of 
former times. 

Senator Wilbor was born in the town which we have 
mentioned, September 10th, 1807, and he has always 
resided there except five years of his boyhood which he 
spent at Esj)erance, Schoharie county, New York, to which 
his father removed. His ancestors were English ; but 
they did not possess that conservative spirit which would 
stagnate the channels of progress, rather than have their 
ease disturbed ; on the contrary they were liberal and 
progressive. Catching the inspiration which sometimes is 
wafted from one generation to another, the boy drank in 
many of the healthy influences of his ancestry. His 
earlier days of education were spent in the district 
schools ; and who that has ever attended them can forget 
the reminiscences connected with them? The long rows 
of seats with no backs to rest the aching spine, the stern 
faced schoolmaster with his quill pen over his ear, and his 
long mahogany ferule in his hand, the tiers of sleepy boys 
just nodding themselves from the multiplication table into 
the land of dreams, a little fellow with his foolscap on 
his head doing penance for having broken some trivial 
rule; all these pass before the mind of many a man whose 
voice has been heard in State and national councils. After 



EDWARD G. WILBOR. 161 

months and years of attendance in the common school, 
Mr. Wilbor attended the Kinderhook Academy, during 
a few terms. New and more liberal advantages were 
afforded him, while a pupil in that institution, which he 
appropriated to himself with the ordinary zeal of hoy- 
hood. After the completion of his academical studies, Mi*. 
Wilbor decided to make farming his future avocation. 
As an agriculturist he has met with very few reverses. 
The harvest has brought to him its abundance, and has 
given him a competence which puts him beyond the 
necessity of toil, and leaves him to suit his own pleasure 
whether or not he shall take that rest which advanced 
years so much deserve. At the age of twenty-one, Mr. 
Wilbor allied himself to the Whig party, which, in 
Columbia county was sadly in the minority. In 1840, he 
ran on the Harrison ticket for member of Assembly, but, 
of course, was defeated by the superior strength of the 
other party; and in 1846, he again was a candidate for 
the same office and came within twenty-five votes of an 
election. True to his principles, he remained in the Whig 
ranks until the columns of the Republican party were being 
made up, and then espoused the cause of that organiza- 
tion. In 1865, he was nominated for State Senator by 
the Republican Union party of the Eleventh Senatorial 
District, in opposition to the most popular man which the 
Democrats had in that part of the District, Moses Y. 
Tilden, of New Lebanon. Ideas, as the election proved, 
had undergone a change. The steady and tremendous 
onset of the war had carried Avith it an aAvakening of 
humanity ; and men had, in the mean time, learned to read 
and think for themselves ; and so the Republican party 
gathered sufficient strength to itself to elect Mr. Wilbor 
by a majority of five hundred and fifty-five. 

In the early part of the rebellion he gave to the army 
his oldest son, nineteen years of age, who remained until 
21 



162 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the close of the conflict. He was one of the thousands of 
gallant men who had no stain upon his military reputa- 
tion. "We can give him no higher encomium than to say, 
" He served his country well." While in the service, his 
health became impaired by exposure. On his return 
home the malady grew worse, and ten months after the 
waiting ones had welcomed his return, they bore him 
outward and buried him with a soldier's honors. Of 
him and his burial a young poetess whose name is not 
unfamiliar to the public, and who was one of his kindred, 
wrote as follows : 

" The soft air stole across the blooming hills, 
And filled the Sabbath morn with fragrance sweet— 

The sky-born choirs, in leafy arches hid, 
Proclaimed their praise in warbled carols, meet. 

" With him who sleeps the last, long, quiet sleep, 
Beneath the drooping elms the mourners passed, 

Before them, sadly, on the village green, 
The flag he had defended hung half mast. 

" There, all unmoved by breath of wandering wind, 

It seemed that sorrow lay among the stars, 
And wound her closely clinging arms about 

The thirteen glorious, old, unsevered bars. 

" Thus sadly trailed its treasured, blood- wrought folds 

Until beneath they bore the noble dead, 
Then with one long, triumphant sweep, it flung 

Its unstained beauty, proudly o'er his head. 

" A moment, and again it drooped before them 

Unmoved and sad against the azure sky, 
And never more it spread its glowing pinions, 

While all the long, dark train crept slowly by. 

" If thus the Raven banner once had fluttered 

Above the biers of those who fighting fell, 
The wailing clans would wild have hailed the symbol, 

That in Walhalla's halls the brave did dwell. 

" Not that we read, by changing sign and token, 
Yet in our hearts we hide the treasured thought, 

That Freedom, boasting not above her treasures, 
Accepts with tears the sacrifice we brought." 



EDWARD G. WILBOR. 163 

Mr. Wilbor was instrumental, in the session of 1866, in 
procuring the passage of " An act to authorize any town 
in the counties of Columbia or Rensselaer to aid in the 
completion of the Lebanon Springs Railroad," authorizing 
commissioners appointed by the County Judge, to borrow 
money on the faith and credit of towns, and to execute 
bonds therefor, under their hands and seals. This bill 
was of great importance to the counties in question. He 
also aided in the passage of a bill for the amendment of 
the Charter of the city of Hudson. During this session, 
in addition to other legislative work, he has aided in 
securing the locating of the Insane Asylum at the city of 
Poughkeepsie. 

Mr. Wilbor is Chairman of the Committee on Poor 
Laws, and a member of the Committees on Internal 
Affairs of Towns and Counties, Grievances, Manufactures, 
and Erection and Division of ToAvns and Counties. He 
is a fine old gentleman whose face is always lighted by a 
smile, and whose heart is at all times open to the approach 
of benevolence. 



STEPHEN K. WILLIAMS. 



Senator Williams was born in Bennington, Vermont, 
May 9th, 1819. His father, Richard P. Williams, M. D., 
immigrated to what is now the Village of Newark, then 
new and unsettled, in Wayne county, New York, when 
the subject of our sketch was four years of age. 

Mr. Williams early evinced that aptness and proficiency 
in his studies, which have been so characteristic of him 
throughout his after life. During his boyhood he was 
studious and reserved, reading much, particularly history 
and biography, being far in advance of most boys of his 
age in his studies. For this, he was indebted much to the 
kind attentions of his father, who taught him during his 
evenings. Owing to his thorough preparation for a col- 
legiate course, and evident maturity of qualification, the 
faculty of Union College in his case varied the rule requir- 
ing the applicant for admission to be sixteen years old, and, 
at the early age of fifteen, admitted him to the Sophomore 
Class, with which he steadily advanced until he graduated 
with marked distinction, in the year 1837. 

After a few months travel in the Eastern and Southern 
States, having chosen the profession of the law, he com- 
menced the study of it in the office of Judge Sherwood, at 
Newark, Wayne county, and finally completed his prepar- 
atory reading in the office of the Hon. George II. Mid- 
dleton, late of Syracuse, and was admitted to practice, in 
the year 1842. He at once entered into copartnership 
with Judge Middleton ; and his success as a practitioner, 
was marked and continous. In some respects his first 
business connection was a fortunate one. . Judge Middle- 
ton, was a man of much more than ordinary caliber ; he 
was a thorough scholar, possessing a fine judicial mind, 



STEPHEN K. "WILLIAMS. 165 

and an able and effective advocate. But the multi- 
farious and confining details of the office business were 
particularly distasteful to him, and to these, from necessity 
as well as from choice, Mr. Williams applied himself, with 
tireless energy. With such zeal and earnestness did he 
prosecute his labor, that for weeks together, all through his 
professional life, his lamp might be seen burning almost 
into the small hours, night after night, thus laying the 
foundation of the success which has since crowned his 
professional labors. A few years were sufficient to make 
him known as one of the leading lawyers of his district. 

As a student he was laborious, indefatigable ; as a law- 
yer scrupulously faithful to the interests of his clients, and 
untiring in the advocacy of their claims ; and despising the 
mere trickery by which too many of the profession are 
willing to gain temporary forensic triumphs, he acquired, 
-with the bench, a high reputation for candor and frank- 
ness as well as legal attainments, and with the Bar, the 
character of a fair, courteous and gentlemanly prac- 
titioner whose professional reputation Avas a guaranty 
against chicanery. 

Mr. Williams has always been an earnest and a consis- 
tent politician, believing in human progress and the doc- 
trine of the equal rights of all, and has made it the object 
of some of his leading efforts, to advocate the extension 
of equal rights to all races and conditions of men. 

He has always devoted himself so closely to his profes- 
sion, as to prevent all thought of political preferment — 
having held but one public office, that of District Attorney 
of his county — until 1863, when he was elected Senator 
of the Twenty-fifth District ; to which office he was 
reelected, in the fall of 1865, by a majority of over four 
thousand, and more than two hundred in advance of his 
ticket. Within a few years, he has several times been 
proposed for Congress, from his district, but the claims of 



166 LIFE SKETCHES. 

locality taking precedence, the nomination went to Cayuga 
county. 

During his first Senatorial term, he was Chairman of the 
Committee on the Erection and Division of Towns and 
Counties, and Chairman of the Committee on the Manu- 
facture of Salt, was second on the Committee on Railroads, 
and Grievances, and took a prominent part in the debates 
on all public questions. 

In 1865, Mr. Williams was a delegate to the Baltimore 
National Convention, which renominated Abraham Lin- 
coln for the Presidency. He aided in the admission of 
the Louisiana delegates into that convention, whom he 
regarded as entitled to representation there, as they had 
formed a loyal constitution and a loyal government which 
was then in the hands of loyal men. In regard to his 
action on that occasion, the New Orleans True Delta, then 
a loyal paper, and published by Hon. William R. Fisn, 
said : 

"It is well known to most of our readers, that when the Louisiana 
delegation presented themselves as members of the Baltimore Con- 
vention, in April last, there was considerable opposition to their 
admission. It is not generally known, however, how that opposi- 
tion was overcome, at least, on the part of the New York delegates. 
Mr. Williams, a member from that State, enjoying the confidence 
of Mr. Preston King, the Chairman of the Committee on Creden- 
tials, and the respect and good will of all the other members who 
knew him, used his influence, both publicly and privately, in behalf 
of the admission of our delegates ; and it is not too much to attrib- 
ute their admission, in a great measure, to his exertions. This 
circumstance forms a connecting link between the New York State 
Senator and the citizens of Louisiana." 

He has always been an earnest and effective friend of 
the canals of this State, and has endeavored, several times, 
to abolish the system of repairs by contract ; but the 
strong influences, interested in preserving the present 



STEPHEN K. WILLIAMS. 167 

system, have thus far prevented the accomplishment of its 
repeal. 

In the Senate, Mr. Williams has been a firm friend of 
the soldier. In 1864, he introduced a bill "for the relief 
of the families of volunteers in actual service in the army 
and navy of the United States ; " supported warmly and 
efficiently the Constitutional amendment, giving them the 
right to vote while in the field ; dedicated his services, for 
several months each year, during the war, to the promotion 
of the interests of volunteers, and gave his active support 
to bills raising bounties for soldiers. He is Chairman of 
the Committee on State Prisons, and second on the Com- 
mittees on Public Buildings, Manufacture of Salt, and 
Railroads. 

Senator "Williams is a ready and accomplished debater, 
speaking seldom on unimportant questions, but on issues 
of importance, always taking a prominent part. 



JOHN J. WOLCOTT. 



Senator Wolcott is a native of Trenton, Oneida 
county, New York. He was born June 20th, 1810. His 
parents were of English descent, and removed to Oneida 
county, from Weathersfield, Connecticut, in 1 800. Samuel 
Wolcott, father of the Senator, was one of the pioneers 
of Oneida county. He lived to the age of eighty-two 
years, in a community which grew up around him, and 
which his intelligence and exemplary life had done so 
much to improve. He died in 1857, universally regretted. 

Senator Wolcott received such education as the times 
afforded, in the common schools of Oneida county, and in 
the Academies of that part of the State. His early days 
were spent upon his father's farm. In 1831, he first 
engaged in commercial pursuits, in his native town, and 
in 1834, removed to the village of Fulton, Oswego county, 
where he has since been successfully engaged in commer- 
cial enterprises. He has, at all times, been deeply inter- 
ested in the growth of the village, with the history of 
which, he has been so long identified ; and he has had the 
satisfaction of seeing it rank among the most prosperous 
and enterprising of the State. He is one of the principal 
stockholders in what was the Oswego River Bank, 
organized in 1855, and of which he was elected President. 
More recently, this institution has passed into the First 
National Bank of Fulton, with Senator Wolcott contin- 
uing in the same l'elation as its presiding officer. 

In early life, Senator Wolcott was a Democrat, but 
always of the Radical school. It was not in his nature to 
tolerate so inconsistent a feature in our institutions as 
American slavery. As a Democrat, he Avas, in days gone 
by, of the Michael Hoffman and Samuel Young school, 



JOHN J. WOLCOTT. 169 

and became an active " Barn Burner," in the days when 
" Hunkerism " formed the other extreme of the Demo- 
cratic organization. The events of 1848, found him 
ready to enter into the " Free Soil " movement. In the 
campaign of 1848, upon the "Buffalo platform," he was 
a zealous supporter of Van Buren and Adams, and 
did much toward moulding that public opinion which 
resulted in a sweeping majority against General Cass in 
Oswego county. Extensively and most favorably known 
as a business and public man, his taking a decided and 
active position in favor of "Free Soil, Free Speech, 
and Free Men," had a great influence with people in his 
section of the country. 

For many years, Oswego county had been considered 
among the most reliably Democratic in the State. It 
is now among the strongest Republican counties of the 
State. This liberal sentiment of the county is largely 
owing to many men, who, like Senator Wolcott, refused 
to follow the Democratic party. In the combinations and 
compromises between " Soft Shell " and " Hard Shell " 
Democracy, which followed the canvass of 1848, Senator 
Wolcott was nominally with the former, but he was 
little in harmony with them, and repudiated their candi- 
dates, when he could not consistently support them. 
When the Republican party was organized, he entered it 
with zeal ; and he has been one of its leading members, in 
his own county, down to the present. In 1856, he was a 
supporter of Fremont and Dayton, as he was, four years 
later, of Lincoln and Hamlin, and still later, of Lincoln 
and Johnson. During the Avar, in common with his loyal 
fellow citizens, he was active in support of the govern- 
ment, and in sending and supporting men in its defense. 

In a life so active as has been Senator Wolcott's, it 
could not well be otherwise than that places of trust and 
responsibility would be offered him. In every situation, 
22 



170 LIFE SKETCHES. 

his services have been marked by thoroughness and fidelity 
to the interests of the masses. In every issue which has 
arisen between the laboring classes, on the one hand, and 
combinations or would-be aristocracy on the other, Sen- 
ator Wolcott has always been with the people. He has 
ever been the friend of the laboring men and mechanics, in 
their struggles to better their condition ; and thei'e are few 
men in his community more favorably known among the 
farmers with whom he has had to deal through so many 
years. He was early elected to the office of Town Clerk, 
and was subsequently Sujjeiwisor, so long as he would con- 
sent to run. He was Chairman of the Board, in 1854. He 
was frequently Trustee of his village, and was twice Presi- 
dent of the same. In 1844, he was Loan Commissioner of 
his county. In 1857, the present Second Assembly District 
of Oswego county, was formed, and Mr. Wolcott was 
selected as the first candidate for member. Although the 
District was considered to be a close one, his majority was 
nearly one thousand. 

In the fall of 1855, he was nominated in county Con- 
vention for State Senator, Oswego county forming the 
Twenty-first Senatorial District, and was elected by a large 
majority. He is Chairman of the Committee on Public 
Printing, a member of the Committee on Canals, and also 
on Banks. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Public Printing, early in the last session, he made a report 
in which he called the attention of the Senate to the 
enormous useless expenditures for legislative printing, 
made by previous legislatures, and the great abuse which 
had grown up in the legislature in these expenditures. 
He recommended that the Senate should be liberal in its 
orders, but that all useless and extravagant expenditures 
should be dispensed with. The Committee made this 
recommendation a rule, which was inflexibly adhered to in 
their reports, and the Senate sustained its Committee. 



BENJAMIN WOOD. lYl 

During his terra in the Senate, Senator Wolcott has 
acquired the reputation of being an intelligent, capable 
and industrious legislator. He is a man of good sense and 
sound judgment. In the ordinary walks of life, he has 
always been distinguished for his lively interest in all that 
tends to improve society, and benefit his fellow men. He 
has always been a practical and active temperance man, 
and has devoted his attention to the cause of education, 
having for years freely given his time among all his other 
engagements, to the discharge of the duties of School Dis- 
trict Trustee, and of President of the Board of Trustees 
of Falley Seminary. 



BENJAMIN WOOD. 



Senator Wood was born at Shelbyville, Kentucky, on 
the 13th October, 1820. The first among his paternal 
ancestors whose history is identified with this country, 
was Henry Wood, who emigrated from Wales, in 1616, 
and settled in Massachusetts. He was a staunch Quaker, 
and, to escape the persecutions of the Puritans, he left the 
colony, and settled in the neighborhood of where now 
stands Camden, New Jersey. He called his estate " Pea 
Shore," and there most of his descendants have lived and 
died. This Henry Wood was the great-grandfather of 
Benjamin Wood, father of the subject of the present 
sketch. Mi*. Wood's maternal ancestors were also Quakers, 
and attained distinction, both in Em-ope and America. 

Mr. Wood engaged in business, at an early age. Before 
he attained his fourteenth year, he had visited, with one 
exception, all the States of the Union, and had made 
several voyages to the West India Islands, and Central 



172 LIFE SKETCHES. 

America. After many years of travel, he engaged in 
business, in New York, which he carried on successfully 
for several years ; he then retired, relinquishing the con- 
cern into the hands of his partners. In May, 1860, he 
purchased the New York Daily News. Under his man- 
agement, that paper soon held a conspicuous position in 
the arena of journalism. It was suppressed by the govern- 
ment, soon after the outbreak of the late civil war ; but, on 
the 18th of May, 1863, its publication was resumed, and it 
has since been conducted with the energy and enterprise 
that are distinguishing characteristics of its proprietor. 
The Sunday News, recently introduced to the public, has 
already acquired no little popularity. 

Mr. Wood's political career has been eventful and con- 
spicuous. During the last Presidential campaign, he was 
a staunch supporter of Douglas, and contributed largely, 
from his time, his purse and energies, to assist that states- 
man's canvass. He was, at that time, a member of the 
State Central Committee, of New York, and as such, was 
chosen Chairman of the Select Committee appointed to 
unite the Anti-Republican elements of the State. He was 
also Chairman of the Convention of Democratic editors 
that assembled at the Astor House, in 1860. The same 
year, Mr. Wood became a candidate for the representation 
of the Third Congressional District, of New York, and was 
elected by a majority of six hundred and thirty-two. His 
speeches in Congress have occasioned much excitement 
and comment, in consequence of their bold denunciation 
of the war. On the 11th of June, 1860, Mr. Bingham, of 
Ohio, presented a preamble and resolution, declaring that 
information had been received by the government, 
that Hon. Benjamin Wood, a member of the House, 
from New York city, had been engaged in communicating, 
or attempting to communicate, important intelligence to 
the rebels in arms against the government, and direct- 



BENJAMIN WOOD. 173 

ing the Judiciary Committee to investigate the subject, 
and report upon the facts. 

Mr. Wood said : " I hope the resolution will be adopted ; 
and I also desire to thank the government for giving me 
what they have denied to so many others, namely, an 
opportunity to be heard." The reference to the Committee 
Avas made, but in the absence of any creditable evidence 
of the charge, the matter was quietly dropped, in spite of 
Mr. Wood's earnest and repeated demands for a full inves- 
tigation. 

In 1862, he Avas returned to Congress by an overwhelm- 
ing majority, thus demonstrating that his constituents 
approved of his Congressional course. At the close of his 
term, he was earnestly requested to become a candidate 
for the third time, but positively refused. However, 
at the solicitation of many citizens, he consented to run 
for the Senate of this State, and was elected by a large 
majority. 

Mr. Wood is a little above the middle height, strongly 
but not rudely built, and possesses a constitution that has 
thus far withstood the ordeal of a life of intermingled 
labor and adventure. His eyes are of a quiet blue ; his 
countenance pale, animated under excitement, but with a 
somewhat mournful and fatigued expression in repose. 
His features, and especially the firm lines about his mouth, 
indicate the chief traits of his character, self-will and deter- 
mination. Although resolute almost to stubbornness, and 
quick to resent insult or injury, he is rather gentle and 
reserved in deportment. He has many political enemies, 
and but few personal ones. His nature, frank and out 
spoken to a fault, rather conciliates than repels. Sincerity 
is an attribute that even his political foes do not deny him. 

Mr. Wood has bestowed much time and attention upon 
the cultivation of his farm at Manhasset. This includes 
a garden of eleven acres ; one of the finest in the world. 



174 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Some impression may be received of the extraordinary 
skill and labor bestowed upon this horticultural paradise, 
by the fact that Mr. Wood has carried off the first pre- 
miums for flowers, for several years past, in competition 
with the magnificent nurseries of Flushing. 



JAMES TERWILLIGER, 

CLERK OF THE SENATE. 

Mr. Teewilliger is a native of New Scotland, Albany 
county, New York, where he was born January 30th, 1825. 
He is of Holland and Scotch lineage. In the year 1836, 
he removed to the town of De Witt, Onondaga county ; 
and, up to the age of eighteen, his time was spent in work- 
ing on the farm, and obtaining the meager education 
imparted by the district schools. He early manifested 
a great love for books and newspapers. He seized every- 
thing of the kind which came in his way, and devoured 
the contents with avidity. His tastes were more particu- 
larly in sympathy with works of a political nature, and 
biographies of statesmen; and thus his thoughts were 
turned to the workings of political machinery. In the 
mean time, until he was twenty-six years old, he labored 
on his father's farm, familiarizing himself with all of the 
weary routine of agi'icultural toil. In 1851, a new chap- 
ter was opened, in his life. Laying aside the implements 
of manual work, he invested his capital in journalism, 
and became one of the proprietors of the Syracuse Daily 
Journal. His connection with that newspaper, continued 
until 1855, when he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the 
Assembly, by R. U. Shearman, then Clerk of the House. 
In 1850, he received the appointment of Journal Clerk of 



JAMES TEKWILLIGEB. 175 

the Senate, and held that appointment for four years, at the 
end of which time, he was elected Clerk of the Senate. 
Mr. Terwilliger has since been three times elected with- 
out opposition. In addition to this post of honor and 
responsibility, he has held others of similar importance. 
In fact, the past eighteen or twenty years of his life have 
been more or less employed in arranging the details of 
either county or State campaigns, and in supervising the 
order of legislative business. Mr. Terwilliger was chosen 
Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Onondaga county, in 
1849; and, from the organization of the Republican party 
in 1856, to the year 1860, he was Secretary of the Onon- 
daga County Republican Committee, when he was elected 
Secretary of the Republican State Committee. He con- 
ducted the memorable presidential campaign of that year, 
with masterly tact and acceptance, and originated the 
plan of sending speakers, by the State Committee, into 
different sections, a practice now so generally adopted. 
Mr. Terwilliger has been Secretary or Acting Secretary 
of the Republican Union State Committee, ever since, 
except the years 1862 and '64. In the canvass of 1864, 
he was Acting Secretary of the National Union Executive 
Committee, and additionally aided the State Committee 
very materially. 

When the lamented Preston King was appointed Col- 
lector of the Port of New York, the position of Private 
and Confidential Secretary to the Collector was offered 
to Mr. Terwilliger, without any solicitation or previous 
knowledge of the matter, on his part. Induced by friend- 
ship for Mr. King, he accepted the place, and held it until 
the appointment of the present Collector, when he resigned. 

Mr. Terwilliger's familiarity with all the ramifications 
of political forces ; his very large acquaintance with the 
leaders of parties in this State and the country at large ; 
his ready comprehension of the right thing in the right 



176 LIFE SKETCHES. 

place, render his services almost invaluable. As Clerk of 
the Senate, he is a master. All of the duties attending 
that post are as familiar to him, as are the successions of 
propositions of Euclid, to a professor in college ; and his 
executive abilities, his steady application to the rapid dis- 
patch of business, and his almost uninterrupted attendance 
upon the sessions of the Senate, greatly enhance the value 
of his services. 

There is no bluster in his composition. The calm dignity 
of the perfect gentleman always rests upon him, and the 
smile of good nature is rarely missed from his face. Mr 
Terwilliger is held in high estimation by both parties. 
At the close of each term, elegant testimonials have been 
presented to him by the Senators, as an expression of their 
appreciation of his ability and kindness. 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 



EDMUND L. PITTS, 

SPEAKER. 

Me. Pitts has arisen to a height of popularity which is 
seldom attained by men, at so early an age. Long before 
the first of January, the Members of Assembly began to 
cast around for candidates for the Speakership of the 
House. Names of men long identified with legislative 
action, of conceded ability, and who are among the lead- 
ers of the Republican party, were mentioned as being 
worthy of the honor ; but, as the time for the assembling 
of the Legislature drew near, there was a general impres- 
sion that Mr. Pitts would be the gentleman whom the 
House would trust to carry it through its coming session. 
Previous to the Republican caucus, one name after 
another was dropped, with perfect good feeling, and Mr. 
Pitts was conceded, with unanimity, to be the candidate. 
On the assembling of the caucus, he was nominated by 
acclamation. Such a compliment, however, was well 
bestowed, and was in accordance with public sentiment. 
He is a firm adherent to the Republican party; he has 
never had any affiliation with frauds and corrupt measures ; 
and his great aim has been to fight down schemes for 
plunder, and to maintain principles of right, irrespective 
of men. If he has personal ambitions, as it is natural he 
should have, he makes them subservient to the general 
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178 LIFE SKETCHES. 

welfare; and, anxious to discharge his complicated and 
delicate duties in a way which shall do justice to all, Mr. 
Pitts has thus far elicited commendation from both parties. 
Mr. Pitts is a native of Yates, Orleans county, New 
York. He is not yet twenty-eight years of age ; hut he 
has a maturity of mind which is rarely found in one so 
young. When a lad, he attended the academies in the 
vicinity of his home, and was considered to be a remark- 
ably brilliant scholar. A desire sprang up in his mind to 
go through college ; and, therefore, the mysteries of amo- 
as-at and bonus-a-um were in due time mastered, the 
classics and mathematics duly conned, and, after a time, 
the boy found himself prepared for the Sophomore year 
in college. During these terms of study, he had an 
able instructor and a reliable friend, Professor Charles 
Fairmax, now Principal of the Medina Academy, of 
whom he speaks in warm terms of gratitude. When Mr. 
Pitts was fifteen, he carried off the first prize for declama- 
tion at a public exhibition, and, from our knowledge of 
him, he has not yet relaxed his study in that direction. 
But the question of a collegiate course was abandoned, 
because his father, though now in comfortable circum- 
stances, was then scarcely prepared to take the responsi- 
bility of meeting the bills which would have to be 
incurred. In the year 1859, Mr. Pitts attended the Law 
School at Poughkeepsie, and then read law with Hon. San- 
eord E. Church, at Albion. Such was the rapidity of 
his progress, he was admitted to practice, in 18G0, about 
fifteen months after he began the study of his profession. 
In the autumn of 18G0, he entered into a partnership with 
Ai>\\ Uowen, Esq., which has continued ever since. 
Confidence was had in his legal acumen ; men trusted the 
linn with cases of importance, and found that they were 
skillfully managed; and what was, at one time, a promis- 
ing beginning, has ripened into a steady success. 



EDMUND L. PITTS. 179 

When Mr. Pitts was nineteen, be was a Douglas 
Democrat, and made campaign speeches in favor of that 
wing of the Democracy ; hut when he began to studiously 
weigh the doctrines which he was promulgating, he 
became convinced of their sophistry, and discarded them 
altogether. His first vote, he is proud to say, was cast 
for Abraham Lixcoln ; and every campaign since be 
was of age, has found him advocating, from the forum, 
almost daily and nightly, the enduring principles of his 
party. In 1862, in convention, Mr. Pitts, without any 
thought that he was even remotely dreamed of for a can- 
didate to the office, came within one vote of the nomination 
for Member of Assembly; two years after, however, he 
was elected to the Assembly, and has continued to repre- 
sent his district ever since. While carefully watching and 
urging the local interests of his constituents, he has boldly 
battled against the " New York ring," and has never 
hesitated to attack the strongholds of corruption, or to 
tear away the flimsy gauze of trickery. Last session, be 
introduced a very important amendment into the New 
York tax levy, which met with obstinate resistance from 
certain parties ; and yet, if we mistake not, the recent 
decision of Judge Barnard, in relation to the notorious 
gas contract swindle, turned upon that very amendment 
which was finally fought through by Mr. Pitts. He is 
regarded with confidence by many of the best men of 
New York city, avIio recognize in him the exponent 
of unselfish motives, and the staunch friend of their 
municipality. In the Assembly of 1866, he was Chairman 
of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and was a 
Member of the Committee on the Affairs of Cities. 

In stature, Mr. Pitts is five feet and four inches. He 
sometimes facetiously remarks that his friends call him 
five feet only, but that he is determined to have the benefit 
of the fraction over. He has a pleasant face, which is 



180 LIFE SKETCHES. 

full of animation and character, and a voice -which is deci- 
sive in tone when he is in earnest, but sweeping when he 
is denunciatory. 

31 r. Pitts, as Speaker of the Assembly, is distinguished 
for his ready perceptions, his intimate knowledge of par- 
liamentary law, acquired by long familiarity with legisla- 
tion, and his speedy dispatch of business. He is uniformly 
courteous, but self-reliant ; and in referring bills to the 
various committees — an act which requires discretion — 
he seldom makes mistakes. 



OKNON ARCHER 



Me. Archer was born in Granville, "Washington 
county , New York, October 1st, 1814. At the age of 
ten years, he commenced attending school at Granville 
Academy, and continued in that institution nearly seven 
years, a large portion of which time, Rev. Sale^i Towx, 
LL. D., was Principal. In 1831, he entered Williams 
College, and graduated in 1835. His standing in his class 
was good — excelling in languages, but indifferent in 
mathematics. After securing his diploma, he opened a 
select school in Utica, where he remained one year ; he 
then removed to Romeo, Michigan, and took charge of 
the Romeo Academy, then just opened. In 1838, he was 
a candidate for member of the lower branch of the Legis- 
lature in that State, but was defeated with the rest of 
his ticket (Whig) ; Macomb county then being strongly 
Democratic. 

Mr. Archer returned to New York, in 1839, and took 
charge of Marion Academy, and continued to be its 
Principal for nearly six years. In 1845, he removed 



ORNON ARCHER. 181 

to Walworth (also in Wayne county), and was Principal 
of Walworth Academy about two years. He was nomi- 
nated in 1844, by the Whig party, for member of Assem- 
bly, but was defeated, although running considerably 
ahead of his ticket. In 1846, he was elected a member of 
the Convention to revise the Constitution of the State, 
and bore a prominent part in the deliberations of that 
body. Three years afterwai'd, he served as Deputy Clerk 
of the Assembly, under Philander B. Prindle. After 
the close of the session, he was employed in the office 
of the Secretary of State, arranging the documents 
appertaining to the Colonial History of the State, and 
transcribing such portions as were selected for imbrication. 
In 1851, '52, and in 1855, '56, Mr. Archer served as 
Deputy Clerk in the Assembly, under Richard IT. Shear- 
man, Clerk. He was appointed Assistant Assessor of 
Internal Revenue, in 1862, which office he held until 
nominated for the Assembly, in September, 1866, when 
he resigned. 

Mr. Archer was educated in the old Whig faith, and 
was, from the origin of that party, a zealous defender of 
its principles. He voted for Harrison in 1840, for Clay 
in 1844, for Taylor in 1848, for Scott in 1852, for 
Fremont in 1856, and for Lincoln in 1860 and '64. He 
was always a decided opponent to Slavery — an Aboli- 
tionist in fact — but he never was drawn from his party 
allegiance, as many of that class were. Mr. Archer has 
frequently been engaged in political canvasses, speaking 
not only in his own county, but often in other parts of 
the State. He has been repeatedly Delegate to State 
Conventions, and was a member of that Convention in 
1854, which first organized the Republican party. In 
1850, Mr. Archer was admitted to the Bar, and has since 
then, when not engaged in official duties, practiced law. 
His majority in the District for member of Assembly, in 



182 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the late election, was 1,162, which was 300 larger than 
any' member ever before received. 

He is a gentleman of peculiar talents. His long 
experience as an educator has done much toward develop- 
ing his analytical powers, and his participation in politi- 
cal contests has given him an adroit skill which is highly 
essential to a legislator. 



JOHN G. BAKER. 



Mr. Baker is the representative of the Third District 
of the county of Ulster. He is a descendant of patriotic 
ancestry, his father having been a soldier in the American 
army, during the Revolutionary war. He is a native of 
Greene county, New York, is a farmer by occupation, and 
is thirty-two years of age. Mr. Baker was educated in 
the common school, and at the Greenville Academy. He 
was a teacher, for several terms ; but his father becoming 
infirm, he returned home, and took charge of the farm. 
He had a taste for agriculture, and was very observant in 
his practical farming. His mind w T as not satisfied with 
simply knowing that seed must be put into the ground in 
order to germinate ; but he went further, in his observa- 
tions and inquiries, and sought the best methods for pro- 
moting the growth of his various products. Having read 
the best agricultural papers, he acted upon many of the 
suggestions which, he found in them, and tested their 
a alidity by his own obseiwation. In this way, he accumu- 
lated a fund of information, upon which he afterward drew 
to advantage. In 1860, a new field of action was opened 
which he immediately occupied. Laying aside the farmer's 
implements, he went to the city of New York, and, for 



STEPHEN BAKER. 183 

some time, was one of the publishers of the Practical Far- 
mer and Scientific Gardener, a valuable paper, in its sphere. 
Mr. Baker was formerly a " Know-Nothing," and, as 
such, voted for Millard Fillmore for the presidency. 
But he soon left the party, and united with the Democracy, 
with which he has ever since cast his political fortunes. 
This is his first experience in legislative action. He is a 
member of the Committee on Agriculture ; and his already 
acquired knowledge of farming will be of value to him in 
the consideration of questions which may arise while he is 
acting in that capacity. He is a very quiet member, is 
punctual in his attendance, and is an attentive observer of 
the proceedings of the House. 



STEPHEN BAKER. 



Mr. Baker's life has been chequered with dashing 
adventures, which, if narrated in detail would form an 
interesting volume. We can, however, but simply allude 
to the salient points which we have been able to gather, 
now and then, in hasty snatches of conversation. Mr. 
Baker was born of American parentage, in the town of 
Southeast, Putnam county, New York, December 31st, 
1835, and received a moderate common school education. 
At the age of twenty, wishing to see something of frontier 
life, he went to Kansas, at the close of the civil strife in 
that region, and engaged in the transportation business 
between Omaha and Fort Kearney. In 1858, when the 
gold mines of Colorado were discovered, he was one of 
the first white men who explored South Park, and Pike's 
Peak, traversing the south fork of the Platte river, and 
leaving their names on the bleached skulls of buffaloes, as 



184 LIFE SKETCHES. 

guide-blocks for those who might follow after. During 
this expedition, he participated in many thrilling scenes, 
both in camp .and on the march, and beheld some of the 
grandest scenery on the continent. Of course privations 
had to be endured ; but they were over-balanced by the 
fascinations which always hover over an unexplored region. 
In the spring of 1859, Mr. Baker joined in a war against 
the Utahs, near the head waters of Clear Creek, and thus 
became familiar with the customs of Indian warfare. His 
venturesome spirit led him into the midst of many exciting 
dangers, from which he escaped as by a charmed existence. 
After varied experiences among the Camanches, Sioux, 
Black Feet, Pawnees, Omahas, and other Indian tribes, he 
returned to his native State, and in August, 1862, entered 
the service of the United States as First Lieutenant in the 
6th New York Artillery. July 5th, 1863, he was attached 
to the army of the Potomac, near South Mountain, partici- 
pating in the battles of Wapping Heights and Mine Run, 
the latter of which was terribly sanguinary. In the month 
of November, 1863, he was promoted to Captain, on 
account of his bravery on the field. Remaining with his 
regiment, he took part in the battles of the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Coal Harbor 
and Petersburgh. Captain Baker was ordered to Wash- 
ington, in August, 1864, and was transferred to the Middle 
Department under General Sheridan. After the battle of 
Cedar Creek, he was promoted to Major, and ordered to 
the Army of the James. For gallantry in an important 
engagement with some of the enemy's iron-clads, he was 
commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel. It was his privilege to 
be engaged in the final rout of the Rebel army, which was 
the crowning triumph of our arms. After his regiment 
was mustered out, he was retained in the service, to aid 
in consolidating the remaining battalions of the 6th, 10th, 
and 13th Regiments of Heavy Artillery, and, with the 



HORATIO BALLARD. 185 

consolidated regiment, was placed in command of Peters- 
burgh. His signal bravery was again rewarded, in July, 
1865, by a promotion to the rank of Colonel. He was 
mustered out of service in the following September. 

Colonel Baker ably represented Putnam county in the 
Legislature, in 1866, as a Union Republican, and, therefore, 
has had experience in legislation. 



HORATIO BALLARD. 



Mr. Ballard is a gentleman of affability and urbanity. 
His past political experience, his wide acquaintance with 
men, and his legal attainments, are points of no insignifi- 
cant importance to a member of the Legislature. He is 
nearly sixty-four years old ; therefore, with other legisla- 
tive capacities, he brings with him ripe judgment and 
settled opinions. 

His father, a native of Massachusetts, was among the 
early settlers of the town of Homer, New York, and was 
one of the founders of the Cortland Academy. He held 
various county offices, and was a member of the Legis- 
lature. 

Mr. Ballard received his education at the Pompey and 
the Cortland Academy. He commenced his legal studies 
with Judge Stephens, and finished them with Judge 
Jewett. In 1828, he was admitted as Attorney to the 
Supreme Court, and, three years subsequently, as Coun- 
selor. He formed a law partnership with Judge Ste- 
phens, and soon ranked among the leading lawyers in his 
Judicial District. He accepted the appointment of District 
Attorney, in 1841, and held it for a number of years, dis- 
charging his duties in a manner acceptable to the public. 
24 



186 LIFE SKETCHES. 

In 1 848, he was the candidate of the Barn Burner Democ- 
racy, for Congress ; but his district having heavy Whig 
majorities against the Democrats, he was not elected; 
and, in 1859, having been nominated for Judge of the 
Supreme Court, for the Sixth Judicial District, he was 
defeated by the same causes. 

On the reception of the news of the slaughter of some of 
the soldiers of a Massachusetts regiment in the streets 
of Baltimore, in April, 1861, a very enthusiastic war 
meeting was held at the Court House in Cortland county, 
over which Mr. Ballard presided. He had drawn his 
conclusions as to what should be his future course in rela- 
tion to the war. Recognizing but one line of policy, 
which seemed to him correct, he laid aside his former party 
ties, and united with the Union organization. In Septem- 
ber, 1861, he was spontaneously nominated, by the Union 
Convention, for Secretary of State. That was a time 
when men forgot all mercenary and petty motives, in the 
great desire to express their condemnation of the faithless- 
ness of the South ; and, while our heroes were baring their 
breasts to the conflict, all along the lines, the voice of the 
people, at the North, thundered out their protest against 
the sophistry of secession. The Empire State gave no 
uncertain expression on that occasion. Mr. Ballard's 
majority was 107,712. He discharged the duties of Secre- 
tary of State with carefulness and ability, and retired from 
office with the reputation of being a consistent State 
officer. 

In the recent campaign, in the county of Cortland, 
without solicitation on his part, and indeed, without his 
expectation, he was unanimously nominated for the 
Assembly, on the Union ticket, and elected by a large 
majority, running ahead of his ticket. 

His wife and three children compose his present house- 
hold. One of his sons served as First Lieutenant in the 



SAMUEL M. BARKER. 187 

Union army, from 1862, until near the close of 18G4, when 
he fell a victim to disease, and the brave fellow, whom the 
bullets of the rebels failed to kill, was buried, none 
the less a hero than if he had fallen at the cannon's throat. 
Thus the father feels that his own loyalty has been conse- 
crated, as indeed has that of many others, by the sacrifice 
which he has made. His eldest daughter married Hon. 
Wm. H. Robertson, who is member of Congress from the 
Tenth Congressional District. 

Mr. Ballard takes an interest in the cause of education. 
He is now President of the Board of Trustees of the Cort- 
landville Academy — one of the flourishing institutions in 
this State ; and, last fall, he was instrumental in procuring 
the location of one of the State Normal Schools, in Cort- 
land Village. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee, 
and of the Committee oh Colleges, Academies and Schools. 



SAMUEL M. BARKER. 



As early as the year 1850, Mr. Barker was known to 
the people of his county as an influential and competent 
worker in politics. He is one of those men who are satis- 
fied to use their energies for the common good, without 
continually looking out for the " loaves and fishes." 
Therefore, though he might have been elevated to official 
positions, if he had been disposed to urge his claims, he 
held no office until the year 1865, when he was elected by 
the Republicans of his county to represent them in the 
Lower House of the Legislature. During that term, he 
elicited the approbation of his constituents, as well as that 
of his colleagues, by his plain, straightforward mannei*. 
In 1866, Mr. Barker was again unanimously nominated 



188 LITE SKETCHES. 

for a reelection. At this juncture, there arose an unfor- 
tunate split in the party, which was accomplished by 
stragglers and disaffected Republicans, and which resulted 
in the running of a third candidate, in addition to the 
regular opposition. In this campaign, Mr. Barker's 
popularity was displayed to most excellent advantage; 
his labors for the party were almost unremitting ; and the 
success of the State ticket of 1866, in Schuyler county, 
owes much to his strenuous persistency. 

Mr. Barker is the eldest son of Joseph Barker, a highly 
respectable farmer residing in the town of Hector, Schuyler 
county, New York. He was born on the 14th day of 
August, 1827. Like most boys in his neighborhood, at that 
time, he had the advantages of the district school, which, 
though within the reach of almost every one, were, as 
everybody is aware, of a very limited character. The 
common school was in those days, and indeed now is, a 
decidedly primitive affair, in many of the rural districts. 
The cities and large villages have become awakened in 
relation to the necessities of the present generation ; but 
the boy who can blun'der through some of our district 
schools, and have an aspiration beyond the height of the 
dingy ceiling above his desk, is worthy of a place in 
Westminster. When, however, Mr. Barker advanced to 
the age of seventeen or eighteen, he became a pupil in the 
select school of John - A. Gillett, A. M., at Peach 
Orchard, situated on the east bank of Seneca Lake. 
While there, he made good progress in his studies, and 
improved his opportunities perhaps as well as the majority 
of his schoolfellows ; but he did not evince a decided taste 
for the classics and literature, his mind being more 
inclined to business and the active pursuits of life. At 
the age of twenty-seven, he began farming, at a little dis- 
tance from the homestead, and has pursued that calling 
ever since. In combination with his agricultural occu- 



SAMUEL M. BARKER. 189 

pation, Mr. Barker has dealt largely in live stock and 
wool, and recently has engaged in the manufacture of 
mowing machines — a business which has gradually 
become extensive and profitable. He most emphatically 
opposes any appropriations for corporations, on the 
ground that the present indebtedness of the State is 
already large enough; and the fact that he voted against 
every bill afterward vetoed by the Governor, is worthy 
of mention. In relation to our national politics, Mr. 
Barker has never had any sympathy with that which is 
hostile to equal rights; but he has always acted with 
those impelling forces which pulse the country forward. 
To this end, he worked zealously, in the time of war, 
expending his means, and devoting his time, for the pur- 
pose of filling up the ranks of our armies. 

He is a perfect gentleman in his demeanor, generous in 
his impulses, and upright in principle. Probably no man 
in the House has more warm friends than he ; and unques- 
tionably no Member is more highly regarded. 



OLIVER A. BAR STOW. 



Mr. Barstow is a fine old gentleman of friendly ways, 
who is quiet in his demeanor and honest in his purposes. 
He is plainly a thinking man, though of few words, and, 
when convinced of the justice of a measure, his mind 
is not easily shaken in its conclusions. His ancestors 
came from England, in 1635, and settled in Hanover, 
Massachusetts; they were, for several generations, sea- 
faring men and ship-builders. He was born in Great 
Barrington, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in Novem- 
ber, 1809. He is the youngest child of Doctor Samuel 
Barstow, a gentleman of excellent talents, who was 
reputed a skillful physician, and was held in high esteem 
in the political circles of Massachusetts. At the time of 
his death, which occurred in 1812, he was a member of the 
Senate of his State. 

Oliver A. Barstow remained with his mother, acquir- 
ing such education as could be obtained in the common 
schools, until he was sixteen years of age. In the mean 
time, he had not only gathered to himself quite a fund of 
knowledge, but he had also been favored with all of those 
pure influences which pervade a home presided over by a 
mother. In 1825, he became a member of the family of 
his uncle, the Hon. Gamaliel II. Barstow, of Nichols, 
Tioga county, New York, who was then Treasurer of this 
State, and who had previously been a member of both 
branches of the Legislature, and First Judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas of Tioga county. In passing, it is 
due to Judge Barstow's memory, to say that, as State 
Treasurer, he bore a spotless official record. The same 
may be said of him with reference to every office which 
he ever held. 1 1 is election to Congress, in 1830, was an 



OLIVER A. BARSTOW. 191 

honor well bestowed, and his intimate acquaintance with 
political reminiscences, rendered valuable aid to Mr. Ham- 
mond in the preparation of the Political History of New 
York. Young Oliver remained in his uncle's family 
until he was twenty-one. It is to be supposed that his 
character was shaped by his surroundings, for his uncle's 
frugality, sound practical sense, and eminent honors, must 
have have had their weight upon the young man ; and 
these things, coupled with the trainings of his earlier 
days, left a lasting impression on his memory. In 1830, 
he went to the Western States, and found employment as 
clerk on some of the river steamboats. But he remained 
in the west only a year or two, and then returned to 
Tioga county and went into business. His life has been 
industrious and laborious, his attention being directed to 
merchandising, lumbering and agriculture. In whatever 
undertaking Mr. Barstow has embarked, he has put his 
own hand to the oar, and weathered storms which would 
have made more timid natures shrink. 

Politically, he was, in past years, a Whig, but ever 
since the organization of the Republican party, he has 
uniformly acted with it. He has been Supervisor of the 
town of Nichols, several years, and, for the last twenty- 
three years, has been Justice of the Peace. In his elec- 
tion to the Legislature of the present year, he received 
twelve hundred majority over his opponent, Daniel D. 
McDowell. Mr. Barstow is a member of the Com- 
mittee on Canals, in which capacity we believe he will be 
of material benefit to the State. 



WILSON BERRYMAN. 



Mb. Berryman was born in County Deny, Ireland, 
October 21, 1841. His ancestors were Scotch. He emi- 
grated to New York, in October, 1856i He attended the 
public schools in New York city, and, in 1857, entered 
the College of the city of New York, then known as the 
New York Free Academy, from which he graduated in 
1862, receiving the degree of A. B., and, in 1865, the 
degree of A. M. 

Mr. Berryman was mustered into the military service 
of the United States, in March, 1864, as a First Lieutenant 
in the 32d United States Colored Troops. He served 
with the regiment, in South Carolina, until mustered out 
of the service, in August, 1865. A portion of this period 
he served as Assistant Provost Marshal of the district of 
Hilton Head, and, subsequently, as Assistant Adjutant- 
General of the district of Beaufort. He was with the 
regiment in the battles of Honey Hill, South Carolina, 
November 30, 1864, Pocotaligo, December 7, 1864, and 
James Island, February 10, 1865, and in all the various 
raids and skirmishes in which the regiment was engaged, 
including the expedition of General E. E. Potter, through 
South Carolina, in March and April, 1865, which extended 
as far as Camden. 

Mr. Berryman is a Civil Engineer by profession, and 
resides at No. 315 West 43d street, New York. He is a 
Republican. 

He was a Member of Assembly in 1866, having been 
elected for the Thirteenth Assembly District of New York 
city, and took an active part, in the Legislature of that 
session in all measures relating to the city of New York. 



RICHMOND BIC KNELL. 



In point of years, Mr. Bicknell ranks among the 
younger members of the House. He has a face which is 
full of manly character, and a mind of fine culture. 
There is no pomposity in his mental composition; he 
approaches no man with a "flourish of trumpets," and 
transparencies covered with inscriptions of "Ego;" nor 
does he display an inanity which shows a lack of force 
and individuality ; but he impresses one with the idea of 
a modest determination which is not easily swerved by 
opposition and temptation. 

Mr. Bicknell's native place is the town of Stockholm, 
St. Lawrence county, New York, in which he was born, 
on the 1st of August, 1837. His father, one of the earliest 
Settlers of that town, and one of its highly respected citi- 
zens, still survives. He brought up his son Richmond to 
labor, in his youthful days, on the farm, believing that, 
whatever avocation he might choose when he reached the 
years of maturity, the physical development resulting 
from manual work, and the invigoration of out-door exer- 
cise, would be highly impoi'tant in laying the foundation 
for physical endurance. 

In addition to Mr. Bicknell's common school advan- 
tages, he received instruction, for a couple of terms, at the 
St. Lawrence Academy, situated in Potsdam ; but his 
education has been, to a considerable extent, self-acquired. 
When twenty years old, he began the study of law, at 
Potsdam, in the office of Hon. Henry L. Knowles, the 
pi'esent County Judge of St. Lawrence county ; and about 
two years and a half afterward he was admitted to prac- 
tice ; since that time he has been a law partner of Judge 
Knowles. His qualifications as a lawyer give him a 
25 



194 LIFE SKETCHES. 

prominent place among the lawyers of the northern por- 
tion of the State. He is a fluent and forcible advocate, 
and, in the sphere of discussion, is perfectly at home. In 
the political campaigns of the last few years, he has ren- 
dered effective service, but, aside from this, has not 
otherwise engaged in politics, until his nomination to the 
Assembly, last fall, which resulted in his election by 
the largest majority, except one, of any member elected 
to the House of 1867, viz. : two thousand six hundred 
and sixty-eight. 



LAFAYETTE J. BIGELOW. 



Mr. Bigelow was born in the town of Ellisbuvgh, Jef- 
ferson county, New York, on the 13th of May, 1835. His 
parents came from Vermont, and his father, Jot-ham Bige- 
low, was a farmer in independent circumstances, who 
always took a lively interest in public affairs, held the 
office of Supervisor of his town for several years, and in 
1835 and '30, was a member of Assembly. Lafayette, 
his youngest son, was sent to Union Academy, a distance 
of two miles from where he lived, at quite an early age, 
and as he boarded at home, he did not lack for physical 
exercise. At this excellent institution, he was prepared for 
college, and entered the Sophomore class of Union College 
in the fall of 1854. While there he was studious and 
stood about average in general scholarship. He was 
elected President of the Adelphic society of that institu- 
tion, and once read a poem before it. He was always 
fond of general reading, and was more given to perusing 
the English classics than in digging after the Greek roots, 
or divining the subtle mysteries of the higher mathe- 



LAFAYETTE J. BIGEL0AV. 195 

matics. In composition, declamation and extemporaneous 
speaking, he took rank among the first while at school. 

At the end of the Junior year, feeling anxious to begin 
active life, and having already decided on his profession, 
he left Union College and entered the University of 
Albany, Department of Law, in the fall of 1855. He 
graduated at this institution in the spring of 1857, receiv- 
ing the degree of LL.B., and while there he took the 
silver medal as the prize for the second best original essay 
on the subject of " Eminent Domain." 

In May, 1857, he removed to Watertown, the shire-town 
of his native county, and commenced the practice of law 
in company with Bradley Winslow, Esq., a young gen- 
tleman who had just been admitted to the Bar. The new 
firm of Winslow & Bigelow got along about as fast as 
young lawyers usually do ; at all events, the junior mem- 
ber of the firm, Mr. Bigelow, who is a prudent man 
withal, concluded that he could stand the expense of 
"coffee and muffins for two," and married Miss Hattie 
E., daughter of Mason Rounds, Esq., of Mannsville, New 
York. 

In 1861, he was appointed District Attorney to take the 
place of his law partner who had been elected to the office, 
but who entered the volunteer service early in that year, 
and served in the Union army with distinction, rising suc- 
cessively from Lieutenant to Colonel. In the spring of 
1865, while in command of his regiment, he was shot 
through the abdomen and did not recover until months 
after. Mr. Bigelow served out his official term as District 
Attorney, and gave his partner, in the field, $600 out of 
the $800 salary of the office. 

In the fall of 1862, he was nominated almost by accla- 
mation for District Attorney, and was elected by a large 
majority. For three years longer, he discharged the duties 
of this office with entire satisfaction to the county, and had 



196 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the reputation of being a very faithful and successful public 
prosecutor. In the fall of 1863, following an inclination 
which he had long felt for the editorial profession, he 
bought an interest in the Daily and Weekly Reformer, 
published at Watertown, and one of the largest and most 
influential Union journals of Northern New York. 

Mr. Bigelow has, for a young man, a high reputation 
as a campaign speaker and literary lecturei\ In the cam- 
paign of 1864, he took a prominent part, and spoke in 
Brooklyn and different parts of the State. In politics, he 
has always been a Republican, and has never acted with 
any other party. During the rebellion, he made many 
Union speeches; was a member of the War Committee 
in his county, and rendered effective service in raising 
recruits. 

Mr. Bigelow's tastes are really literary, rather than 
political, and he is called a graceful and vigorous writer. 
He has lectured before some of the first Lyceums in this 
State, and his name is frequently seen in some of our 
popular periodicals. At the last commencement of Union 
College, he received the honorary degree of A. M., as a 
recognition of his literary character. He has always 
taken an interest in educational matters ; is a Trustee of 
St. Lawrence University, and of two Academies. In the 
winter of 1865 and '66, he held the office of Assistant 
Clerk of the Assembly. 

In the fall of 1866, Mr. Bigelow was nominated for 
Assembly, receiving twenty-nine of the thirty votes in 
the convention on a first ballot. He was elected by a 
majority of one thousand six hundred and seventy-eight. 

He Avas made Chairman of the Committee on Printing, 
and accorded a position on Colleges, Academies and Com- 
mon Schools, on which he is an active member. He was 
an earnest supporter of Roscoe Conkling for Senator. 
Early in the session, he introduced the bill to increase the 



JOHN" J. BLAIR. 197 

salary of School Commissioners, supported earnestly the 
bill to establish free schools, and in the exciting debate in 
the House on the proposed Convention to revise the Con- 
stitution, advocated the amendment providing for thirty- 
two delegates at large. His future legislative career must 
remain unwritten on these pages, but we predict that it 
will be approved by his constituents and the people of the 
State. 



JOHN J. BLAIR. 



The member from the Fourth District of New York, 
was born in the city of which he is a representative, 
on the 17th of April, 1833. His parents were natives 
of Ireland, and offered their son every opportunity for 
an excellent education, but like many others, he was 
ambitious of becoming a workman while yet a boy, and 
so merely availed himself of the advantages presented by 
the Common Schools. At the age of sixteen years, he 
was apprenticed at the Allaire Works, one of the most 
extensive machine shops in the country, and soon became 
a proficient at his trade. Mr. Blair early took an interest 
in politics, being elected constable of the Seventh Ward, at 
the age of twenty years and six months, being compelled 
to wait until he had arrived at manhood's estate before 
he could qualify. At the age of twenty-two, he became 
Assistant Captain of the Seventh Ward Police, under the 
old municipal system. In this position, he was popular 
with the men under him, and with the citizens generally. 
He held the place until the Metropolitan Police law went 
into effect, and though offered a Captaincy in the new 
force, declined upon principle, and held to the old organ- 
ization, until it was disbanded. Mr. Blair then returned 



198 LIFE SKETCHES 

to his trade, working at it until the famous machinists' 
strike of 1864, when he made a pledge never to return 
to the bench until the demands of the mechanics were 
granted by their employers. The workingmen were finally 
forced by circumstances to submit, but Mr. Blair kept 
his word. He afterward became connected with the Fifth 
District Judicial Court, and remained there until elected 
to the Assembly, to which he was first nominated by the 
workingmen, afterward being indorsed by the Republicans 
and the Union Democracy. His election was regarded as 
a great triumph over Tammany Hall, as that organization 
considered the District one of the surest for their ticket 
in the city. But the workingmen were a unit for Mr. 
Blaie, and this settled the question. He is, and he always 
has been a Democrat. 

In 18G2, Mr. Blair went to Hilton Head in the employ 
of the Naval Department, and remained there one year, 
as Superintendent of repairs of machinery and repairs of 
gunboats. Here he was of great service to the country. 
In 1853, he took part in an expedition to explore the 
Amazon River, which failed owing to the objections of 
the Brazilian Government. Several of his companions 
w^ere lost in the expedition. In short, Mr. Blair's whole 
life has been quite eventful. 



LEVI B LAKES LEE. 



Until recently, Mr. Blakeslee was a farmer, residing in 
Kirkland, Oneida county, New York. Though very much 
interested in his occupation, he still found time to devote 
himself to political interests, and he was elected by the 
Whigs to represent them from his district in the Assem- 
bly, at the session of 1854. In 1855, he introduced a 
resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution, 
to abolish the property qualification of colored voters, 
thus early recognizing the principle of equal political 
rights irrespective of color. This resolution was, after a 
sharp contest, passed by the Assembly, but was defeated 
in the Senate. He subsequently identified his political 
opinions with those of the Republicans. The Second 
Assembly district of Oneida county had in practice the 
system of rotation in presenting candidates for nomina- 
tion, that is, each town, in turn, had the privilege of the 
candidacy ; therefore, though Mr. Blakeslee had proved 
himself perfectly acceptable to his constituency, yet, 
according to precedent, he could not be put in nomination 
again, until the expiration of nine years. When that 
period had elapsed, the town of Kirkland again offered 
him as the candidate. He was nominated and elected to 
the Assembly, in the Fall of 1863. In 1864, after sufficient 
experience upon the Committee of Claims to convince him 
of the evils of the present system of settlement of claims 
against the State, he introduced a bill giving the Supreme 
Court jurisdiction of all cases of claims against the State, 
in the several judicial districts where they arise; his 
theory of the matter being, that the present system is 
unjust, in that there is no way in which the citizen can 
enforce his State claims. That it is unsafe for the State, 



200 LIFE SKETCHES. 

because the hearing, before the Committees of the Legisla- 
ture, is entirely ex parte, no defense to the claims ever 
being made, unless the claimant's own evidence should 
accidentally show fraud upon its face ; and, even then, the 
rejection of the claim is not final, but only postpones 
the case a year, when it is again presented with the 
evidence of fraud carefully concealed, the first experiment 
showing exactly what alterations were necessary. This 
bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and by them 
reported to the House ; but the late date of its introduc- 
tion prevented final action thereon. 

In 1865, Mr. Blakeslee was nominated for Supervisor, 
against his expressed wishes, and unanimously elected, 
in the town of Kirkland, which had often been so closely 
contested, politically, that a Democratic success was as 
frequent as a Republican triumph. 

In May, 1865, he removed to the city of TJtica, where he 
is now engaged in business, as a coal dealer. In the pre- 
liminary movements of the last canvass, he was requested 
to accept the nomination for Member of Assembly, in the 
First District of Oneida county. Business interests caused 
him to feel that it was his duty to decline the honor ; but 
further consideration led him to reconsider his decision ; 
and he finally concluded to take upon himself the issues 
of the campaign. The consequence was his election. Mr. 
Blakeslee's former experience in the varicms ramifica- 
tions of Legislative business, enables him to meet the 
questions arising therefrom, with adequate skill. 



CHARLES BLAUVELT. 



Charles Blauvelt, Member of Assembly from the 
Fifth District of New York, was born in the city of 
which he is a representative, in the year 1836. Conse- 
quently, he is in the thirty-first year of his age, though 
in appearance somewhat younger. Mr. Blauvelt, when 
quite young, took a deep interest in politics, and soon 
became one of the rising Democracy of the Metropolis. 
Courteous in his intercourse with strangers, and affable at 
all times, he soon attached to him a large number of 
personal and political friends, who secured his triumphant 
election to the Assembly of 1865, after a sharp struggle. 
In that body, he served creditably as a member of the 
important Committee on Public Printing, and though not 
devoted to speech-making in the House, still returned to 
his constituents with the reputation of being a successful 
legislator. Owing to some complications in New York 
politics, he failed of a reelection to the Legislature of 
1866, but at the polls in the fall of that year he was 
returned to the House by a majority so large that his 
choice may almost be said to have been unanimous. In 
the appointment of committees, Mr. Blauvelt was 
selected to serve upon those of State Charitable Institu- 
tions, and Joint Library, but the Speaker afterward added 
him to the Committee on Insurance, when the House 
authorized its increase to seven members. Mr. Blauvelt 
is a member of the 12th Regiment, New York National 
Guard; he accompanied that command to the seat of 
war. He was captured with his regiment at Harper's 
Ferry, in 1862, and paroled, which prevented his return to 
the field. By profession, he is an accountant. 
26 



WILLIAM B. BOYD. 



Mr. Boyd is a native of Barrington, Yates county, New 
York, where he was born, in the year 1824, March 28th. 
His father and mother were natives of this country ; the 
former was of Irish descent, and the latter was of German 
ancestry. He received a fair academic education in his 
early years; and, at the age of twelve, left home, with 
the determination to carve his own way in the world. 
Residing in Yates county until he was eighteen years old, 
he removed to the village of Prattsburgh, Steuben county, 
New York, where, at the age of twenty-two, he engaged 
in the mercantile trade. The village contained several 
manufactories, and, therefore, afforded desirable facilities 
for his business. Twelve years subsequently, he engaged 
in farming, and the traffic in grain and wool. In the latter 
avocation, he is still quite a heavy operator. Mr. Boyd 
was Post-Master of Prattsburgh, from the year 1849 to 
1853, under the Whig Administration. He was a Member 
of the Assembly, in 1866, having been elected over his 
Democratic competitor, by four hundred and twenty-four 
majority, and was on the Committee on Banks; he was 
reelected last fall by a majority of five hundred and four- 
teen. At the opening of the session, he was appointed on 
the Committee on Banks, and was made Chairman of the 
Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Department ; 
but he resigned soon after his appointment. 

Mr. Boyd is a gentleman of great business energy, and, 
therefore, is not easily SAverved from his undertakings. 
By his own tact, he has become the possessor of a hand- 
some property, having the gratification of knowing that 
he has wrought his fortune solely by steady and merito- 
rious application. He is held in high estimation by his 



THOMAS A. BRIGGS. 203 

acquaintances ; and, though there may be members in the 
House of superior legislative talents, there are none who 
are more reliable for integrity. 



THOMAS A. BRIGGS. 



Mk. Briggs was born in Athens, Greene county, on the 
4th of September, 1834, and is consequently in the 33d 
year of his age. He is of old Knickerbocker stock, his 
ancestors having resided in this State for many genera- 
tions past, several of them participating in the great 
struggle for Independence. He received a common school 
education, and, at an early age, engaged in the business 
of boating, for which he displayed a great aptitude, 
having command of a sloop when fourteen years old. It 
was not long before he commanded a steamer, and, as a 
captain, he became very popular. For three years he was 
in the government service, as Captain of the " Silas O. 
Pierce," a dispatch boat at Fortress Monroe, which was 
the first to pass through " Dutch Gap," and the first to 
reach Richmond after the evacuation of the rebel capital 
by the Confederate forces. Mr. Briggs took the news of 
Mr. Lincoln's death from Fortress Monroe to Norfolk — 
the telegraph being broken — with instructions to deliver it 
in j>erson. In the national service, though not an active 
participant in the struggles between the armies and navies 
of the contending hosts, he still accomplished much in his 
modest capacity, and the government and its officers 
never had reason to complain of the manner in which his 
duties were performed. He claims no fame as a politician, 
having never before been a candidate for any office. He 
has always been a Democrat of the straightest order. Mr. 



204 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Beiggs serves upon the important Committee of Com- 
merce and Navigation. He is very reticent to strangers ; 
but anions his friends he is more frank. 



WILLIAM BRISTOL. 



Me. Beistol, the member from Wyoming, was born at 
Gainesville, in that county, May 7th, 1821, and has resided 
there ever since. His father was a native of this State, 
and a fine type of the resolute and hardy pioneers who 
planted in Western New York, the germ of that intelli- 
gence, industry, wealth and patriotism which now char- 
acterize that section of the State. He was a Member of 
the Assembly of 1823. His mother, a woman of strong 
character and sterling virtues, was a worthy daughter of 
Massachusetts. His grandfather was a Revolutionary 
hero, and his father, a soldier in the war of 1812. Like 
many others of our successful men, Mr. Beistol received 
in a common school the basis of his education. Person- 
ally directing the management of his extensive farm, he 
has occupied himself principally as a wool dealer. His 
large business operations have been generally successful, 
and he possesses an ample fortune, which is as generously 
used, as it was honorably won. He has recently bought 
one of the finest places in Warsaw, which he will make 
his residence, after this season. Mr. Beistol's wide-awake 
and intelligent interest in political affairs, began before he 
could vote. He was originally a Democrat; in 1848, 
became an active and influential Barn-Burner, and in the 
Syracuse Barn-Burner Convention of 1856, which indorsed 
Feemont, he was one of the few representatives of his 
section of the State. Since that time, he has been an 



WILLIAM BRISTOL. 205 

enthusiastic Republican. He was Presidential Elector for 
the Twenty-ninth District in 1864, and was one of the 
Secretaries of the College. For the past four years he 
has been unanimously chosen Supervisor of his town, 
and has served as Chairman of the Board for two years. 

In 1862, when President Lincoln issued his call for 
600,000 Volunteers, Governor Morgan appointed Mr. 
Bristol one of the War Committee for the Thirtieth 
District. At this time he was at Rochester, deeply 
engaged in business. He immediately returned home. 
On Sunday, notice was read from the pulpit of one of 
the churches, inviting all who desired to aid in crush- 
ing the Rebellion to meet in his orchard. The Thursday 
following, largely through his indefatigable energy, a 
full company, made up of some of the finest young 
men that left the State at their country's call, was 
enrolled, ready for duty. It was the first company on 
the muster-roll of the famous First New York Dragoons. 
Three years afterward, when " all that were left of 
them" returned from following the fiery Sheridan, out 
of money and anxious to go to their friends previous 
to being paid off, Mr. Bristol interested himself in 
getting them released from their miserable quarters 
near Rochester, and advanced them money from his 
private purse to carry them to their waiting homes. In 
the same pleasant grove, where, three years before, these 
brave boys had enlisted, a grand pic-nic was gotten up 
to welcome their return. Over four thousand persons 
were present, and it was one of the most notable rural 
gatherings ever held in that section. By the unanimous 
wish of his fellow-citizens, the whole matter of volun- 
teering, bounties, &c, was left to his discretion, and so 
well was the duty done that the repeated calls were 
always honored, and the town owes not a dollar for 
bounties. The same good management was manifested 



206 LIFE SKETCHES. 

in the conduct of the county's volunteering and finances, 
by the Committee of Supervisors, of which he was Chair- 
man, and the county paid its last bond, the past year. 
Aside from private bounties paid to volunteers from his 
town, their fiimilies received many substantial tokens 
of his remembrance. The soldier and the soldier's family 
had no truer friend than he. 

Last fall he was nominated for the Assembly by accla- 
mation and with great good feeling. He was elected by 
a majority of 1,848. Personally, Mr. Bristol is a gentle- 
man of fine appearance, open and courteous manners and 
most generous impulses — a man of ability, experience in 
the world, and strong common sense — having a large 
acquaintance among the public men of the State, and 
the c;ood will and confidence of his constituents. 



BENJAMIN F- BRUCE. 



Mr. Bruce has, perhaps, more of an air distingue than 
any other member in the Lower House. His tall, finely 
developed figure, his proud, erect bearing, and his well- 
shaped head, combine to attract the attention of the spec- 
tator in glancing over the gentlemen who compose the 
Assembly. Mr. Bruce has a deep, sonorous voice, which 
has been highly cultivated ; and, as an orator, he fully com- 
mands the attention of the listenei*. Some of his most bril- 
liant speeches were extemporaneously delivered; in fact, he 
seldom puts his ideas on paper, preferring to trust himself 
to the impulse of the occasion. Mr. Bruce is a generous 
hearted man ; and, in conversation, is easy and entertain- 
ing. He is a native of Lenox, Madison county, New 
York, and of Dutch and Scotch lineage. In youth, he 



BENJAMIN F. BRUCE. 207 

acquired nothing more than a plain English education, 
and then became a clerk in a country store. From sixteen 
to twenty-one, he was engaged on the canal, and then 
began farming. But, being naturally inclined toward 
politics, Mr. Bruce early displayed a disposition to 
engage in State affairs, and readily attained a great 
measure of influence in the Whig party, which he repre- 
sented in the Constitutional Convention held in 1846. In 
that Convention, Article two, Section one of the Con- 
stitution, in relation to the elective franchise, was 
originally framed by Governor Bouck, Chairman of 
the Committee on Franchises, so as to commence, " Every 
white male citizen, &c." Mr. Bruce moved an amend- 
ment striking out the word "white-" but, after an 
animated debate, in which he defended his idea with a 
masterly skill, it was defeated. It required no little 
moral cour.age, at that time, to advocate negro suffrage 
without property qualifications ; yet it is worthy of note 
that the Congressional District, in which. Mr. Bruce 
resided, sustained his views. 

In those days, the military of this State received no 
little attention, and there were aspirations, as there are 
now, for bars and stars upon the shoulders, and for com- 
missions of high rank. Mr. Bruce's military merits 
received recognition at different times, and he was looked 
upon as an officer, under the old militia regime, who was 
worthy of signal recognition. He received, from Gov- 
ernor Marcy, the appointment of Brigade-Major and 
Inspector of the 35th Brigade, and held the office until 
1851, when he was appointed Inspector-General by Gov- 
ernor Hunt, holding the place until he was removed by 
Governor Seymour, in May, 1853. During the guberna- 
torial administrations of Governors Clark and King, 
Mr. Bruce again discharged the duties of Inspector- 
General. In the mean time, after duly inspecting the 



208 LIFE SKETCHES. 

old arsenal in New York city, situated in the vicinity of 
the Central Park, and finding it in an unsafe condition, 
and a source of great expense on account of its unfavor- 
able situation, he recommended the sale of it and the ten 
acres accompanying it, taking the proceeds thereof for 
the purpose of erecting arsenals and armories in different 
parts of the State. His suggestions met with favor in the 
Legislature, and the property was sold for $275,000 ; and 
out of the proceeds, without any additional expense to 
the State, several fine arsenals have been built. The 
wisdom of this enterprise is perfectly obvious. 

Mr. Bruce was removed by Governor Morgan, in 
January, 1859. We should mention, in this connection, 
that, in March, 1851, he was made Inspector of Railroad 
Tolls, resigning, however, when he was appointed Inspector- 
General. In January, 1801, he was chosen Canal Com- 
missioner by the Legislature, to fill the vacancy* occasioned 
by the death of William II. Barnes who had been 
elected in November, 1860. Mr. Bruce was nominated 
for the same office, in the fall of 1861. The Republican 
Convention indorsed and adopted the ticket made up by 
the People's Convention, except the nomination of F. A. 
Tallmadge, for Canal Commissioner, in whose place Mr. 
Bruce was substituted, being the only Republican nominee 
on the ticket. This division of the Republican Union 
vote, resulted in the election of William W. Wright, the 
Democratic candidate, by a small plurality. In November, 
1803, Mr. Bruce had the satisfaction of again running 
against Mr. Wright, and of defeating him by a majority 
of nearly thirty thousand. He now represents the Second 
District of Madison county in the Assembly, having been 
elected by a majority of seven hundred and ninety-eight. 

In the appointment of Committees, the Speaker selected 
Mr. Bruce as Chairman of the Committe on Federal 
Relations. 



AUGUSTUS A. BRUSH. 



This is Mr. Brush's first term at Albany, in the 
capacity of Assemblyman ; but we do not question that 
he will quite readily adapt himself to the exigencies of 
Legislative action, and prove himself to be a fearless and 
prudent protector of the rights of " old Dutchess." There 
are two extremes which new members should guard against. 
One is excessive timidity, and the other, blind fearlessness. 
Mr. Brush's contact with the world has been sufficient to 
enable him to overcome the former, and avoid the latter. 

His ancestors came to this country from England, and 
settled on Long Island. They were very conspicuously 
identified with the early history of this nation. His 
grandfather served, during the Revolution, as an officer 
of various ranks, from Captain up to General, and his 
bravery gave him the respect of his fellow officers. 

Mr. Brush left school, at the age of twenty, and entered 
upon a mercantile life, in the town of East Fiskhill, New 
York, to which he had removed from New Fairfield, 
Connecticut. He still conducts the business of a general 
country store, in that place. He was elected School Com- 
missioner, in 1860, and reelected, in 1863. The watchful 
manner in which he took care of the school interests, in his 
district, afforded great gratification to the inhabitants. 
His irreproachable character, and searching insight into 
human nature, were two very important qualifications for 
a man in his official position. In his intercourse with his 
fellow-citizens, he always extended a courteous greeting 
to all, whether in exalted or humble station, and thus won 
their high regard, which they plainly exhibited by electing 
him to a still more exalted office, in the Legislature. Mr. 
Brush's majority was seven hundred and ninety-seven ; 
27 



210 LIFE SKETCHES. 

with a single exception, he carried every town in his 
district. He is an effective worker in politics, and a 
leading man in the church of which he is a member. 
Possessing a noble heart, he gives willingly and liberally, 
whenever charity appeals to him for assistance ; and, with 
a firm purpose to avoid that which might compromise his 
honor, he combines the qualities of a good public officer 
and a reliable friend. 

He is a member of the Committees on Public Health 
and Medical Colleges and Societies, and State Charitable 
Institutions. In the transaction of legislative business, 
he assumes no showy demeanor for the sake of effect ; but 
talks and acts with a motive to make himself useful. 



GEORGE W. BUCK. 



This gentleman represents the county of Chemung. 
He was chosen, after one of the most spirited contests 
ever known in the State, by a majority of one hundred 
and ten, over Colonel E. L. Patrick, the Democi*atic 
nominee. 

Mr. Buck is fifty-four years of age, and was born in the 
town of Chemung, where he now resides. Elijah Buck, 
his grandfather, was a resident of the Wyoming Valley, 
at the time of the terrible massacre. On that occasion, 
he was driven from his home, and afterward settled at 
Chemung, where the family and its descendants have ever 
since resided. 

Mr. Buck early developed the qualities which have 
made him popular and successful. Pleasant and agreeable 
in his manners, active and untiring in his habits, sym- 
pathetic in the wants and purposes of those around him, 



GEORGE W. BUCK. 211 

earnest in every good work, and generous almost to a 
fault, it is no matter of wonder to those who know him, that 
his name has always been a tower of strength among the 
people, in whose midst he was born and has constantly 
resided. 

His political life began when excitement ran high 
between the Whig and Democratic parties. His town 
sympathized with the prevailing sentiment in county, 
State and nation, and was heavily Democratic. Mr. Buck 
was reared in the opposite school, and followed the glori- 
ous but never successful banner of the gallant " Harry of 
the West." As he became known to the people of the 
county, they quickly appreciated his sterling qualities, 
and, with remarkable unanimity, the Whigs determined 
"to try him on" for the Legislature. They had been 
buried beneath an opposing majority of nearly a thou- 
sand, from which no name or turn of events had ever 
been strong enough to free them. In the fall of 1847, 
they nominated Mr. Buck by acclamation for Member 
of Assembly. He accepted the nomination, took off his 
coat, and went to work. His own indomitable spirit, 
energy and faith were infused into the hearts of his party. 
He w T as successful; the first and only Whig who, up to 
that time in Chemung county, had ever come within 
seven hundred votes of an election. Since that time he 
has represented his town, at least two-thirds of the time, in 
the Board of Supervisors, and has served several times, 
with great acceptance, as Chairman of the Board. He is 
acknowledged on all hands to be the best and most useful 
Supervisor in the county! 

After the virtual disruption of the Whig party, from its 
Waterloo defeat, in 1852, Mr. Buck allied himself with 
the American, or Know-Nothing party, and adhered to its 
fortunes until it also went down to the tomb of the 
Capulets. From the haunts of that ephemeral ghost, 



212 LIFE SKETCHES. 

he emerged — a modern Democrat. He took to this 
business very awkwardly, and with poor prospects of 
success. The only ambition he seemed to have, was a 
hope that, in some manner, he might reform the habits of 
his new associates. But the events of the war dispelled 
that illusion, and giving up the task as hopeless, he came 
back to the bosom of his early home, and now enjoys that 
personal peace and political tranquillity which flow from a 
conscience void of offense toward God or man. 

When the war of the rebellion broke out, Mi*. Buck 
threw himself into the contest with great zeal. He was 
Supervisor of his town during nearly the whole period 
of the war. His quotas were among the first to be 
filled, and in every duty which distinguished the loyal 
citizen and true patriot, he was foremost. As an 
evidence of their appreciation of his services, as well as 
their confidence in his integrity and patriotism, the Repub- 
licans of Chemung county invited him to become their 
candidate for Member of Assembly, in the fall of 1866. 
The contest was protracted, embittered, and exciting to 
the last degree. But through it all, with unflagging zeal, 
and self-reliant faith, Mr. Buck persevered to the end, 
never doubting his own success, and winning, as all the 
while he seemed to know he should. It is doubtful, 
whether with any other man, the county could have been 
carried. 

Mr. Buck began life, as to pecuniary means, at the 
bottom of the ladder ; and in business success and social 
position, he has climbed well toward the top. He is now 
a successful banker, with a handsome competence. He 
lives freely, is kind to his friends, generous to the poor and 
afflicted, and bountiful to charities and religion. 



LEANDER BUCK. 



Mr. Buck was born in the city of New York, Novem- 
ber 3d, 1826. He is of French and German descent, and 
belongs to one of the branches of the Tompkins family, 
so many of whose members have acquired distinction in 
the councils, both of the State and tke nation. Mr. Buck 
has always resided in his native city, where he enjoyed 
the benefits of a common school education, which, in his 
younger days, were not so numerous nor so varied as at 
present. After leaving school, he prepared himself for the 
profession of a builder ; and he has been engaged in that 
avocation for the past twenty years. Mr. Buck has super- 
intended the erection of many public buildings, and several 
of the finest school edifices in the city of New York. 

Mr. Buck never took an active part in politics until 
quite lately. Aside from his business, military matters have 
mostly engaged his attention, and occupied his leisure 
hours. In 1845, he became a member of the well known 
9th Regiment, National Cadets, remaining in their ranks 
until 1849, when he was transferred to the 8th Regiment, 
Washington Guard. His thorough study of military 
tactics was, in time, appreciated, and he gradually rose 
from a private to the rank of Major, which he held until 
1865, when he resigned, having been in the service for 
quite twenty years. In 1861, Mr. Buck, then a Captain 
in the 8th Regiment, responded to the call for troops to 
defend the National Capital, and finished the first three 
months campaign by participating, with his command, in 
the disastrous battle of Bull Run. In 1862, having, in the 
mean time, been promoted to a Majority, he returned to 
the field, his regiment being stationed at Yorktown, as a 
post guard, and remained there until the termination of 



214 LIFE SKETCHES. 

McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. This ended Mr. 
Buck's military service in defense of the Union. Since 
then, he has attended to his professional duties, tempora- 
rily leaving them to take a seat in the Assembly, to which 
he "was elected by a flattering majority, notwithstanding 
an opposition in his own party. He has always been, and 
always expects to be, a Democrat. 



CALEB F. BUCKLEY. 



Me. Buckley, representing the Fifth District of Kings 
county, was born in the City of New York, on the 16th 
of November, 1841, and is consequently in the 26th 
year of his age. His father and grandfather were born in 
the same city, the latter taking part in the war of 1812 ; 
during that contest he was a pilot on the lakes, partici- 
pating in the struggles for naval supremacy there, which 
resulted so gloriously for the American arms. His mater- 
nal ancestors were likewise natives of the City of New 
York, so that Mr. Buckley may be said to have come from 
genuine old Knickei-bocker stock. His father was a well 
known Democratic politician of the old Seventh Ward, 
being for a long time President of the famous Ironsides 
Club, which included large numbers of men who have 
since achieved considerable fame. Caleb F. Buckley 
removed with his father to Brooklyn, in the year 1S48; 
and, since that time, he has resided in the District he now 
represents. He has been a member of one of the Demo- 
cratic General Committees for the past three or four years. 
His nomination for the Assembly was by acclamation, 
b his election was considered doubtful, as the District 
is the most strongly Republican in the county. The 



PATRICK BURNS. 215 

result, however, demonstrated his popularity, as he was 
chosen by a plurality of nearly three hundred, much to 
the astonishment of the opposition. Mr. Buckley received 
a common school education, has a good knowledge of 
business, and by occupation is a clerk. His District is 
one of the wealthiest in the State. 



PATRICK BURNS. 



Mr. Burns, the representative of the First District of 
Kings county, is a native of the County of Monaghan, 
Ireland, and was born January 1st, 1833. His parents 
emigrated to this country about twenty-four years ago, 
and settled in Brooklyn, in the Second and Fifth Wards 
of which, they have resided ever since. Mr. Burns was 
early apprenticed to a ship joiner, and became an adept in 
the business of ship-building, at which he worked for 
about seven years, the most of the time being in the 
employ of the government at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. 
He early attached himself to the Democratic party, in 
whose ranks he was an active worker. At the age of 
twenty-one, he was elected a member of the Democratic 
General Committee; and, in 18G2, was chosen to repre- 
sent the Fifth Ward in the Board of Supervisors, serving 
during his term as Chairman of the Alms House Com- 
mittee, and Committees on Grades, Relief of Families of 
Volunteers, Courts, County Jail, and Bounties. As a 
member of the latter Committee, he was assigned to the 
receiving ship North Carolina, where he paid the bounties 
to the volunteers accredited to Kings county. The 
duties of this position were very arduous, but Mr. Burns 
acquitted himself with credit, and won the praise of his 
associates and the public. Just before the close of 
his term as Supervisor, in 1864, he was unanimously 



216 LIFE SKETCHES. 

nominated as the candidate of his party for the 
Assembly, and was elected by over 500 majority, not- 
withstanding an Independent Democrat took the field 
against him. In the Assembly of 1865, he served on the 
Committee on Salt, but its duties not taking much of his 
time, he devoted himself to the affairs of his city, and 
became a useful member. Mr. Burns made quite a repu- 
tation in an effort to have all the streets of Brooklyn 
opened to the public, but failed, owing to the desperate 
efforts of propei'ty owners, who insist upon holding the 
thoroughfares in which they live, as private property, 
subject to no local control. In 1865, Mr. Burns started 
an extensive kindling wood factory, which proved a 
pecuniary success. In the fall of 1866, he was again nom- 
inated for the Assembly, to which he was chosen by the 
unprecedented majority of nearly two thousand. 



ROSWELL L. BURROWS. 



Mr. Burrows represents the Third Assembly District 
of Erie county, having been elected by a majority of one 
hundred and fifty-one. He is a thorough Republican, and 
a prominent lawyer in the city of Buffalo, where he 
resides. He has a mind which is well stored with general 
and legal knowledge, a dash of repartee which is glitter- 
ing, and a fund of anecdote almost inexhaustible. Mr. 
Burrows is Chairman of the Committee on Joint Library, 
and a member of the Committee on Canals. He is a man 
of recognized talents, fine culture, and has an analytical 
mind which readily masters the intricacies of law. We 
regret that we have been unable to obtain any of the 
details of his life ; but such being the fact, in legal parlance, 
we "rest the case." 



HEMAN G. BUTTON. 



Mr. Button resides in the town of Machias, Catta- 
raugus county, New York, where he has been located 
from infancy. When the country in that vicinity, was an 
unbroken wilderness, his parents were among the first 
settlers who faced the primitive mode of living which 
attends frontier life. They were hard-working people ; 
their wants were few and their advantages were not of 
the broadest kind; but there was a simple happiness in 
their humble lot, which satisfied their honest hearts. 

Mr. Button, early gained the esteem of his associates 
by his unostentatious manners, and his evident inten- 
tions to do right, even at the sacrifice of pecuniary 
gains ; and this confidence was expressed on repeated 
occasions by electing him to represent the people in 
town and county offices. For many successive years, he 
has been Justice of the Peace in the town of Machias, 
and has acquired a considerable legal knowledge, in that 
particular sphere. He was Superintendent of the Poor 
for several terms, and retired from office with an unblem- 
ished reputation. Mr. Button was also one of the 
Justices of Sessions during one official term, a position 
requiring but ordinary capacities, it is true, and yet which 
is a complimentary testimonial. He was also town 
Superintendent of Common Schools, for four years. 

In 1854, Mr. Button ably represented his town in the 
Board of Supervisors, and was also a Member of the Board, 
for the last year. In the proceedings of the Board of 
Supervisors for 1863, a resolution was introduced by 
Mr. Johnson, Democrat, of Ellicottville, highly compli- 
mentary of Mr. Button, for the faithful discharge of his 
duties as county Superintendent. He has held either 

town or county offices, twenty-three yeai*s in succession. 

28 



218 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. Button was formerly a "Whig, but united with, the 
Republican party immediately upon its organization. He 
was, of course, a strong supporter of the war against the 
efforts of treason ; and, in addition to his influence and 
money of which he gave without stint, he lent to the 
army and the country, two sons who were a long time in 
the service, and fought with commendatory heroism. 
Not long since, the late Judge Tex Broeck founded the 
Ten Broeck Free Academy, in Franklinville, and donated 
a sum sufficient to sustain the institution ; before his 
decease, he appointed Mr. Button as one of its trustees, 
in whose practical sense he had great confidence. From 
our limited observation of Mr. Button, we are of the 
opinion that he is an upright man, and that he will return 
to his district, enjoying the respect of all who know him. 



SAMUEL CANDEE. 



This gentleman was born in the town of Southford, 
New Haven county, Connecticut, on the 8th day of 
May, 1814. His parents were English. Mr. Candee 
had not the advantages of an early education, but, by 
industry and careful study, he acquired a fair proficiency 
in all the Common School branches. Politically, Mr. 
Candee was a Whig, and afterward espoused the Repub- 
lican cause. Although frequently pressed by his friends 
to hold various offices he would never accept any position 
beyond the Town Collectorship of the town of Pompey, 
New York, to which office he was elected three times. 
But, in the fall of 1866, in the Third Assembly District 
of Onondaga county, he was unanimously nominated by 
the Republican party for Member of Assembly, and was 



WILLIAM R. CHAMBERLAIN. 210 

elected by a majority of 1051, running thirty-nine votes 
ahead of the State ticket in his own town. He is serving 
on the Committees of Internal affairs of Towns and Coun- 
ties, and Salt. Mr. Candee is, by occupation, a farmer, 
heretofore being largely connected with the public works 
of the State. He is a gentleman of industrial habits, of 
courteous manners, upright in his dealings, and possesses 
the entire confidence of his county. 



WILLIAM R. CHAMBERLAIN. 



Mr, Chamberlain was born at Abbottsford, Canada 
East, December 15th, 1834. At the age of sixteen, he 
removed to the State of Vermont, where he received a 
liberal academic education. In 1857, he removed to 
Colton, St. Lawrence county, where he studied law, with 
Arkins Foster, was admitted to the Bar in November, 
1861, and has since practiced law successfully in Canton. 
He has taken a leading part in the politics of St. Lawrence 
county, having been specially serviceable to the Republican 
party, with which he is identified, as a campaign speaker, 
until his throat became affected. In September, 1862, he 
was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, by 
E. D. Brooks, Collector of Internal Revenue, of the Sev- 
enteenth District, serving in that office, with fidelity and 
integrity, until October, 1865, when he resigned, in conse- 
quence of ill health. 

He was a Member of Assembly in 1866, faithfully serv- 
ing his constituents and the people of the State. He is one 
of the working members of the House, rarely making a 
speech, but when he does, always with effect. He was 



220 LIFE SKETCHES. 

chosen by the Speaker, the present session, as Chairman 
of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, a marked 
compliment, inasmuch as three contested seats, involving 
very nice points, were before that Committee. 



EDGAR B. CLARKE. 



The ancestors of Mr. Clarke were English. He is a 
descendant of the celebrated Joseph Clarke, who, in 
company with his brother John, emigrated from England, 
and, in the year 1671, established the First " Seventh Day 
Baptist Church" in America, at Newport, Rhode Island. 

Mr. Clarke's family, with its different branches, is 
quite large ; and some of its members have occupied 
prominent positions in politics and society. He was 
educated at De Ruyter Institute which is situated in 
Madison county, New York. He is now a manufacturer 
of agricultural implements and furniture, at Unadilla 
Forks, conducting the business in partnership with his 
father, under the firm of Clarke & Son". Their establish- 
ment gives employment to a large number of workmen ; 
and their capital is recognized as the means of infusing 
spirit into the enterprises of that locality. The firm is 
a highly reputable one, in business circles ; and the senior 
and junior partners are gentlemen who are not narrow 
in their views ; but, on the contrary, both entertain com- 
prehensive ideas of social as well as business relations. 

Mr. Clarke has always striven to promote the interests 
of the Republican party in his county ; and has, for some 
years, held offices of a local nature, in the town in which 
he lives. During the war, though he was so much out 
of health that his services in the field would have been 



EDGAE B. CLARKE. 221 

unavailable, yet he was among the foremost to encourage 
enlistments. Probably, it is not asserting too much, to 
say that the promptness, with which every demand of 
the government was met, by his town, was owing very 
much to Mr. Clarke's zeal in arousing his fellow citizens 
to the work. The awful conflict, at the South, made 
demands, not only upon his capital, but also upon his 
kindred. Three of his brothers placed themselves at 
their country's disposal. One of them died in the hos- 
pital, a slow death of martyrdom ; and another was 
slain at Antietam. 

Mr. Clarke enters upon his new political experiences 
with a good reputation preceding him ; and we have no 
misgivings in relation to his guarding well the buckler 
which is thus far untarnished. He is now in his thirty- 
second year. Youth, influence, and the respect of the 
public, are in his favor. Therefore, we shall be greatly 
disappointed, if his political history shall end at the 
'close of the present session. Very appropriately, he 
was placed on the Committee on Trade and Manufactures ; 
and his previous experience in manufacturing enables 
him to easily comprehend any disputed questions which 
properly come before that Committee. 



WILLIAM S. CLARK. 



Me. Clark's grand-parents, who were born in Dutchess 
county, New York, settled in Coeymans, Albany county, 
during the year 1773. His paternal grandfather being 
unable to endure the privations of pioneer life, died at the 
age of thirty-two; his maternal grandfather, Reubex 
Stanton, was among those who, by their vigor and hardi- 
hood, contributed much to clear up the wilderness in 
Coeymans, in the days when homes were never safe, in con- 
sequence of the depredations of marauders from the army 
in the war preceding the Revolution. He was, for some 
years, a licentiate in the Baptist Church, and was regularly 
ordained by that denomination, in 1793, continuing to 
preach until he was disqualified by age. Mr. Clark's 
parents settled on a farm in Carlisle, Schoharie county, ip 
1813, where his father died in 1849. His mother is still 
living ; and though seventy-nine years old, she is healthful 
and active, with faculties unimpaired, and with her dark 
brown hair scarcely marked with a thread of silver. 

Mr. Clark was favored with good educational oppor- 
tunities, having attended some of the academies of Scho- 
harie and Madison counties. He was a teacher during 
several winters, and then chose law as a profession ; he 
graduated from the Albany Law School in the spring of 
1858, and returned to Sloansville, where he now resides. 
Since then, however, he has gratified his desire for travel 
very largely, and has also been identified with all move- 
ments of public interest in his locality, yet devoting 
himself to the practice of his profession. 

Mr. Clark was elected Town Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, in the year 1850, and was Commissioner of 
Excise during the years 1862, 'G3 and 'G4. 



"WILLIAM S. CLARK. 223 

A special election having been called for the purpose 
of filling the vacancy caused by the decease of the Mem- 
ber elect from Schoharie county, Mr. Clark was nominated 
by acclamation, by the Democrats, and elected without 
opposition. To use a facetious expression of his, he has 
"hosts of constituents." During the war, his talents and 
influence were used to pi'omote the interests of the gov- 
ernment, both by addressing Avar and bounty meetings, 
and encouraging volunteering, in his own county and the 
surrounding ones. He has always been a Democrat ; and 
various political articles from his pen, which have appeared 
through the public press, among them, his discussion of 
the proposed Constitutional Convention, in 1858, display 
a repleteness of ideas which is above the ordinary cast of 
mind. Mr. Clark has an excellent literary taste, and 
displays a certain vim and dash, in his composition, which 
excite one's admiration. His " Memoir of Charles How- 
ard Phelps," which was written for the Trustees of the 
Dudley Observatory, and subsequently published by them, 
is a chaste and beautiful tribute to the memory of one 
whose whole soul was inspired with the grandeur of 
Astronomy, and whose life trembled at the impressions 
of those master thoughts which seem to transfigure the 
whole being. 

The introduction of a law defining the duties of Over- 
seers of Highways, which was reported by the Committee 
without amendment ; a clear, concise, but full report of 
the views of the minority of the Committee on Privileges 
and Elections, in the Putnam county case, and a bill to 
amend the Registry Law, are some of the measures which 
he has already introduced, in his legislative capacity. 
Mr. Clark is in the prime of life, and enjoys a good joke 
or a keen sarcasm about as well as an epicure relishes his 
salads and " green seal." 



HUGH CONGER. 



Mr. Conger represents the First District of Albany- 
county. He was born in the town of Berne, New York, 
March 31st x 1804, and has always resided within a mile of 
the place of his birtb. He is a farmer, and dealer in blue 
quarry stone. In 1830, he was elected Constable, running 
as stump candidate, and receiving one hundred majority. 
For over twenty yeai*s, Mr. Conger was Justice of the 
Peace, which office he held, for sixteen successive years. 
He was also Justice of Sessions, five years. His original 
political views were those maintained by the Democracy ; 
at present he is a Republican. Last fall, Mr. Conger ran 
for the Assembly, against "William J. Snyder, and was 
elected by a majority of six hundred and nine. He serves, 
in the present Assembly, on the Committees on Expendi- 
tures of the House, and Roads and Bridges. 



JOSEPH COVELL. 



Mr. Covell was a Democrat until after the election of 
President Pierce, in 1852. The policy pursued during 
his administration, and the circumstances which gave it 
direction, led Mr. Covell to believe that the power which 
controlled the platform of the Democratic party was 
firmly located in the Slave States, and that it must 
necessarily remain thei*e unless affected by some unforseen 
convulsion. It was further clearly apparent to him that 
those who were termed the Fire Eaters of the South were 
intent on the destruction of the government ; that they 
controlled the South, and that the South controlled the 
Democratic party. Accordingly, in 1856, he took a 
decided stand in favor of the principles of the Republican 
party, and he has ever since zealously endeavored to assist 
in thwarting the designs of those who would destroy our 
institutions of libei'ty. Politically, Mr. Covell occupies 
no ambiguous ground. He is most emphatic in the declar- 
ation of his opinions, though never denunciatory. In the 
Assembly he is unobtrusive in his manner, never seeking 
to make himself conspicuous for the sake of mere effect, 
thus fully verifying the old Greek maxim : " We have two 
ears and but one mouth, in order that we may hear the 
more and speak the less." Mr. Covell's face gives us 
the impression that he is a fair, sound-hearted man, and 
his reputation does not belie appearances. His place of 
nativity is Hadley, Saratoga county, New York, where he 
was born in 1808. He was reared on a farm, until he was 
seventeen years of age, at which time he left home to 
attend an Academy. During the succeeding six or seven 
years, he was engaged in acquiring an Academical educa- 
tion, and in teaching. In 1833, he married and settled on 
29 



226 LIFE SKETCHES. 

a form in the town of Edinburgh, Saratoga county. He 
followed farming as his principal occupation, until 1856, 
having held, at different times, the offices of Justice of the 
Peace, and Supervisor of the town. While in the dis- 
charge of his duties, his mind was directed to many legal 
questions which came before him, and thus by degrees, 
the idea of practicing law as a profession, suggested itself 
to him, and finally settled into a determination. Supply- 
ing himself with the necessary books, he soon fitted 
himself for an examination. He obtained a license as 
Attorney and Counselor-at-Law, in 1856; and from that 
period until the year 1860, he followed his profession, and 
also conducted his agricultural affairs. He then disposed 
of his farm and removed to Fish House Village in the 
town of Northampton, Fulton county, where he now 
resides and practices law exclusively. He was elected by 
the Republicans as Member of the Assembly, in 1865 ; 
and during that term was a member of the Committee of 
Ways and Means, and acted as Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Petitions of Aliens. His constituents reelected 
him in 1866, by a majority nearly three times as great as 
in 1865. He is on the Committees on Judiciary and 
Federal Relations. 



CHARLES M. C RAND ALL 



Mr. Crandall, a son of Benjamin G. Crandall, is 
forty-one years of age. His native place is Amity — now 
Belmont, Allegany county, New York. Having been left 
an orphan when he was six years old, he found a home 
with his grand-parents. His grand-father, Samuel Van 
Campen — a name intimately connected with some of the 
hardships wrought by the Revolution — removed from 
Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, in company with ten 
other families, in 1797, and settled in what is now called 
Allegany county. They were the first white inhabitants 
in that section of the State. The first religious meeting 
ever held in the town of Amity, convened at his house. 

Mr. Crandall graduated from the Medical College at 
Castleton, Vermont, in 1859. Since that time, he has 
been a practicing physician of acknowledged skill, in the 
town of Belfast, New York. 

In 1864, he was chosen Member of Assembly by the 
Republicans of the First District of Allegany county. He 
was reelected in 1865 ; and he was an able member of the 
Committees on "Ways and Means, Public Health, Medical 
Societies and Colleges, and was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Expenditures of the House. During the last 
political campaign, Dr. Crandall again was the reci- 
pient of public honors, by again being reelected to the 
House, to represent the whole of Allegany county, by a 
majority of 3,740. While the country was convulsed by 
the rebellion, he gratuitously devoted his medical services 
to the care of the sick and wounded, from the time of the 
battle of Fair Oaks until after the army arrived at Harri- 
son's Landing, and when the battle of Fredericksburgh 
occurred, he again visited the horrible scenes of the hospi- 



228 LIFE SKETCHES. 

tals, and rendered essential aid to the suffering. While 
there, he became impressed with a sense of the necessity 
of medical agents to be sent by our State, to look after 
our wounded men. 

In February, 1863, he attended the regular annual meet- 
ing of the New York State Medical Society, and intro- 
duced the following resolution : 

Whereas, The present civil war has caused the hospitals of the 
District of Columbia to be filled with sick and wounded soldiers 
from this State, proportionate to the number of volunteers sent 
out; and, whereas, every safeguard possible should be thrown 
around those who have periled their all for us ; therefore, 

Resolved, That the New York State Medical Society respectfully 
request of our Legislature and Executive to earnestly consider the 
propriety of appointing an agent, to reside at Washington, who 
shall be a physician and surgeon, with clerical assistants, whose 
only business shall be to look after the interest and welfare of the 
sick and wounded of the State of New York. 

The resolution was violently opposed by some members 
of the society. The subject was referred to a committee, 
which reported favorably. Drs. Swinburne and S. D. 
Willakd were appointed as a committee to present the 
subject to the Governor and the Legislature. The result 
was the passage of the act entitled, " An Act to provide 
additional means of relief for sick and wounded soldiers 
of the State of New York, in the United States of 
America." As the initiator of the above movement, Dr. 
Ckandall is deserving of the gratitude of the people. 

In mid-summer, 1864, two of his brothers were wounded, 
in front of Atlanta. He hastened to their assistance, and 
was in constant attendance in the hospitals of Nashville 
and Louisville for several weeks. He was appointed 
Surgeon of the 141st Kcgiment, New York Volunteers, 
receiving the unanimous vote of the officers of the regi- 
ment, Colonel IIayt (brother of Canal Commissioner 



CHARLES M. CEANDALL. 229 

Hatt), commanding. On the clay before he received intel- 
ligence of his appointment, he was nominated for reelection 
as Member of Assembly ; therefore, he reluctantly declined 
the position in the regiment. April 3d, 1865, on receiving 
the news of the battles in front of Petersburgh and Rich- 
mond, he was requested by Governor Fenton to " hasten 
to City Point, the Army of the Potomac, or whereverJthe 
sufferers from the late battles most demand attendance, 
and assist in taking care of wounded New York soldiers." 

On the 24th of the same month, he was appointed by 
Governor Fentox, Military Agent of the State of New 
York, at City Point, Virginia. He remained at that place, 
until it was abandoned. Subsequently he held the appoint- 
ment of Visiting Agent of Military Hospitals, and spent 
some time in the various hospitals of the Department of 
the Potomac. 

Doctor Ceandall is a man of recognized competence, 
both in his profession, and in the Legislature. Humane in 
heart, upright in motives, he has a past upon which he can 
look with satisfaction. During the terms he has so honor- 
ably served in the Assembly, he has been prominently 
identified with several very important measures. He took 
a special interest in the commission and appointment of the 
late Doctor Willaed, of Albany, to investigate the condi- 
tion of the insane poor domiciled in the alms houses of the 
State; and also the bills to increase the capital stock of 
the New York and Erie Railroad Company to $4,000,000, 
and for the completion and improvement of the Chenango 
and Genesee Valley Canals. The bill for the establishment 
of a Masonic Hall and Asylum in New York, which was one 
of the greatest benevolent enterprises of the Masons, was 
introduced and forwarded by him. Pie was very active in 
behalf of the act establishing the Willard Asylum, zeal- 
ously supported the Cornell University, and the Metro- 
politan Health and Fire Department Bills. He introduced 



230 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and urged a very important measure, which passed to final 
enactment, relative to the Quarantine laws ; and strenu- 
ously opposed the bill increasing the fare on the New 
York Central Railroad. 



THOMAS J. CREAMER. 



Thomas J. Creamer is of Irish descent, and was born on 
the 26th of May, 1S41. He left school when ten years of 
age, having had a common school education in the city 
of New York ; and engaged, shortly afterward, in the dry 
goods establishment of A. T. Stewart & Co., where he 
remained several years ; but, desiring to change his course 
of life, from a mercantile to a px - ofessional career, he 
labored night and day to improve a deficient education, 
and, when he arrived at the age of twenty-one years, was 
admitted as a Member of the Bar. He has since been 
engaged in active political life, having been elected to the 
Legislature when he was but twenty-three years of age, 
polling the largest vote ever cast for any candidate in the 
district he represents. In the Legislature of 1865, he took 
an active part in the debates on all questions relating to 
the city of New York. During the session, he delivered 
a speech in opposition to the establishment of a paid Fire 
Department in New York, which was considered one of 
the most effective and eloquent, on that side of the subject. 
Mr. Creamer was reelected to the Legislature in the fall 
of 1865, by over 2,000 majority, and was a prominent and 
energetic member during the session of 1866, serving on 
the Committees on Railroads, Claims and Engrossed Bills. 
He was a strong advocate of a change in the Militia Laws 
of the State, in order to place the old fogy generals, who, 



THOMAS J. CREAMER. 231 

he believed, were a drag on the efficiency of our State 
Militia, on the retired list ; and did much to pass the law 
which has brought about the desired change. He was 
reelected to the present House, by an increased majority. 
Mr. Creamer, although a young man, takes a prominent 
and influential position in the Assembly. He is more of a 
debater than an orator. Although he is not gifted with that 
plethora of language, so delightful to its possessor, and so 
annoying to those who are compelled frequently to listen 
to it, he is possessed of those more essential qualities of a 
successful legislator — a clear and attractive manner of 
presenting a question ; concise and logical method of expo- 
sition ; quickness of perception, both as to his own position 
and opportunities, and those of his opponents ; thorough 
knowledge of the rules of the House and of parliamentary 
practice; and a personal bearing to all with whom he 
comes in contact, calculated to rally strong support. Mr. 
Creamer was placed by the Speaker on the important 
Committee on Privileges and Elections, of which he is an 
efficient member. 



BERNARD CREGAN. 



Bernard Cregan was born on the 15th of October, 
1832, in Ireland. At an early age he was left an orphan, 
and thrown upon his own resources. When seven years 
old, he went to sea as a cabin boy, starting from Liverpool, 
and going thence to Gibraltar and Hong Kong, returning, 
after a long absence, to the port from which he started. 
Being desirous of visiting America, he shipped for this 
country upon the ill-fated steamer, the Ocean Monarch, 
which, when a short distance out, Was destroyed by fire, 
the calamity resulting in a loss of about four hundred 
lives. Mr. Cregan was saved by hanging on to the chain 
under the bowsprit, his arm being cut into the bone, 
leaving a scar which still remains. After his rescue he 
returned to Liverpool and once more started for America 
as a cabin boy. From New York he went to New Orleans, 
soon after returning to the Great Metropolis. Here he 
sought and obtained work, part of the time being engaged 
in the Sun newspaper office. In 1848 he caught the gold 
fever, and went to California, by way of Cape Horn, 
remaining there until 1851, when he returned, by way 
of Panama, to New York, where he engaged in mercan- 
tile pursuits, which have ever since occupied his attention. 
It was not till about three years since that Mr. Cregan 
entered into politics. He is a Tammany Hall Democrat, 
but last fall received the indorsement of all wings of his 
party, as a candidate for the Assembly — a deserved testi- 
monial to his personal popularity. He is one of two 
Democrats in the Legislature who voted for the Constitu- 
tional Amendment. He represents the Thirteenth Assem- 
bly District of New York city. 



HENRY CRIBBEN. 



Mr. Cribben is of English birth. He was born in the 
Isle of Man, December 18th, 1834. Having immigrated 
to this country, he ultimately settled in the city of Roch- 
ester, New York, where he followed the occupation of 
iron moulder. He is still one of that handicraft, com- 
bining in his character, intelligence, thrift and patriotism. 
Representing the laboring classes, as well as others, he 
knows, by his own experience, what is for the good of the 
working people, both in his own city and in the State at 
large. He was elected to the Assembly by the Republican 
party, by one hundred and seventy-eight majority over 
Chaustcey Perry, Esq. He is on the Committees on 
Trade and Manufactures, and Grievances. 

Mr. Cribben entered the military service of the United 
States, August 26th, 1862, as a private in the 140th 
Regiment, New York Volunteers, performing a soldier's 
duties, until June 2d, 1864, when the Rebels took him 
prisoner, at Bethesda Church, Virginia, and thus cut 
short his efficiency. They gave him the full benefit of 
their infernal prison-pens. By way of introduction, they 
allowed him limited quarters in Libby Prison, where fresh 
air was as rare as their loyalty. After receiving the tortur- 
ing accommodations to be found there, they transferred 
him to Oglethorpe Prison, Macon, Georgia, anticipating, 
no doubt, that a little more tropical heat would burn out 
either his life or his loyalty ; not succeeding in their pur- 
poses, they placed him in the Marine Prison, at Savannah, 
and, subsequently, in four different pens which they digni- 
fied by the name of prison, in South Carolina. Finally, 
Mr. Cribben was confined at Charlotte, North Carolina, 
where he determined not to enjoy any more of their hos- 
30 



234 LIFE SKETCHES. 

pitality, and succeeded in making his escape, February 
16th, 1865. After traveling a distance of nearly four 
hundred miles, suffering from a loss of strength in conse- 
quence of his emaciated condition, running risks which 
kept his nerves strained to their highest tension, for fear 
of being discovered by merciless scouts, he reached Knox- 
ville, Tennessee, March 17th, 1865. 

His active military record is distinguished for his par- 
ticipation in the battles of Fredricksburgh, Chancel- 
lorsville, Gettysburgh, Kappahanock, Mine Run, the 
Wilderness, Laurel Hill-, Spottsylvania, North Anne 
River and Bethesda Church, where, as we have before 
mentioned, he was captured. 

He was promoted through different grades, for his 
bravery, and finally, when the war was ended, he ranked 
as Captain. He was honorably discharged from the ser- 
vice, June 3d, 1865. 



JOHN E. DEVELIN 



Mr. Develin was born in Yonkers, Westchester county 
on the 31st of August, 1820. His lather was a native of 
Ireland, who came to America, in the year 1814. His 
mother was one of the Iceland family, of Long Island. 
In 1824, when Mr. Develin was four years old, his father 
removed to the city of New York, where the son has con- 
tinued ever since to reside. At an early age, he was sent 
to school, and was prepared for College, at the old Gram- 
mar School, in Murray street, of which the Principal was 
Mr. Charles II. Antiion, whose excellence as an educator 
of youth, has gained for him a just celebrity. In 1836, at 
the age of sixteen years, Mr. Develin entered Georgetown 



JOHN E. DEVELIN. 235 

College, in the District of Columbia, an institution under 
the management of the order of Jesuits. He was gradu- 
ated, first in his class, in 1840. Upon his return to the 
city of New York, he commenced the study of law with 
Jonathan*' Miller, Esq., a leading practitioner, and was 
admitted to the Bar, in 1844. Later, he became a partner 
of Mr. Miller, and remained so until the latter's death, a 
few years since. In the fall of 1845, Mr. Deyelin was 
a candidate for the Assembly, to which position he was 
elected, and reelected in 1846, serving honorably during 
both sessions. His object in going to the Legislature 
was to procure the enactment of laws for the aid and 
protection of emigrants, and to secure an act of incorpo- 
ration for St. John's College, at Fordham, a Catholic 
institution, which has since passed under the control of 
the order of Jesuits. Mr. Develin was successful in both 
of his objects. He introduced the first bill for the care 
and protection of emigrants, which, after passing the 
House, was so amended in the Senate, as to provide for 
the organization of the Board of Commissioners of 
Emigration. At the close of the session of 1847, he 
retired from an active participation in politics, and 
devoted himself assiduously to the practice of his pro- 
fession. But, during his entire career, he has given 
special attention to the subject of emigration, and has 
personally prej)ared nearly every law upon that subject, 
which is upon the Statute Books of this State. He was 
himself appointed a member of the Board of Commis- 
sioners of Emigration, the duties of which he performed 
for several years. He was Chairman of the Committee of 
the Board which had charge of the hospitals at Staten 
Island, during the epidemic cholera of 1849. On retiring 
from the Board, he was appointed Counsel to the Commis- 
sioners of Emigration, which position he held, until very 
recently, when he resigned. In November, 1862, Mr. 



236 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Develin was elected Counsel to the Corporation of the 
city of N"ew York, holding that office until his term of 
office expired, in 1866. In the fall of 1866, he was again 
returned as Member of Assembly. His district embraces 
the rural and most beautiful portion of New York Island, 
lying on the southern and western side of Central Park, 
and includes Bloomingdale, Manhattanville, Carmansville, 
Washington Heights, Kings Bridge, and High Bridge. 

In politics, Mr. Develin has always been a Democrat, 
cheerfully aiding the government in crushing the rebellion. 
But his genial ways have secured for him a host of friends 
among men of all parties. He is affable, intelligent, 
refined, and generous, and counts among his warm 
admirers, nearly all of those who have the pleasure of an 
acquaintance with him. He is, by birth and education, a 
Catholic. In 1854, he married a daughter of Charles A. 
Stetson, Esq., of the Astor House. At the present time, 
he resides near Manhattanville, on the banks of the 
Hudson, and lives in a style which comports with his 
refined tastes and abundant means. His popularity among 
his people and neighbors is evinced by the majority which 
he obtained in his district, at the last election, having a 
plurality of about 1,100, in a vote of 2,200. 



HENRY M. DIXON. 



This member from the Seventh District of Kings 
county, was born in Ireland on the 30th of September, 
1835, and is consequently, in the thirty-second year of his 
age. When but a child, he came to this country in com- 
pany with an aunt, and located in the city of New York. 
Shortly after, he removed to Williamsburgh, and engaged 
to a farmer, remaining with him for about a year. 
Thrown entirely upon his own resources, he managed to 
learn a mechanical branch of trade, and at the age of 
seventeen, was in business for himself. Mr. Dixon was 
always an active member of the Fire Department, having 
been a private, assistant-foreman and foreman of one of 
the leading companies of Williamsburgh. For two terms, 
he was President of the Department, and in 1866, was a 
candidate for Chief Engineer, being defeated by but a few 
votes, after a most exciting contest, in which more than 
ordinary effort was made to elect his opponent. At an 
early period, he took an active interest in politics ; and in 
1863, ran as the Democratic candidate for Alderman of 
the Thirteenth Ward (a Republican stronghold), but was 
defeated by a small majority — an evidence of his pop- 
ularity with the masses. In the contest which resulted 
in his election to the Assembly, the whole city took a deep 
interest, and opinion was much divided as to the result. 
Ira Buckman, Jr., a member of the House in 1866, was 
his opponent, but Mr. Dixon triumphed by quite seven 
hundred majority, much to the astonishment of the oppo- 
sition. Mr. Dixon has always been a Democrat. 



CONSTANTINE DONOHO. 



Mr. Donoho represents the Second Assembly District 
of the city of New York, having been elected as a Tam- 
many and McKeon Democrat, over Byeam Gaughan 
(Union Democrat), and George Ross (Republican Union), 
by a majority of 913. He was a member of the House in 
1866, serving on the Committee on Joint Library. 

Mr. Doxono is a native of New York city, where he 
was born, on the 26th of September, 1840. He is of Irish 
parentage. His education was acquired in the Common 
Schools of the city. At present he holds a clerkship in 
the Bureau of Arrears, in the office of the Comptroller 
of the city of New York. He entered the political arena, 
in 1861, as an independent candidate for the Assembly, in 
the district which he now represents ; but was defeated. 
In 1865, Mr. Donoho was again a candidate, the nomina- 
tion being tendered to him, four days previous to the 
election. This time, he was elected by a handsome 
majority. He is now serving on the Committee on Salt. 

In 1862, he served three months as a private in the 69th 
New York State Militia, guarding "Washington ; at the 
expiration of that time, he returned home with his regi- 
ment, and again engaged in business pursuits. Mr. 
Donoho is youthful in personal appearance, has dark, 
curly hair, florid complexion, and is of medium stature. 
His stock of good nature is abundant. He is considerable 
of a ward politician, and has the confidence of his con- 
stituents. 



JACOB H. DUNTZ. 



Mr. Duntz was a farmer by occupation, until two years 
ago ; he then engaged in buying and selling sheep, on 
quite a large scale. All of his business associations have 
been marked by practicality and honesty ; and mingled 
with his toil, he has enjoyed the confidence of his towns- 
Linen, both socially and politically. 

Mr. Duntz is a native of Gallatin, Columbia county, 
New York, and is nearly thirty-one years of age. His 
father died when his son Jacob was five years old, leaving 
a wife and four children, besides a large landed estate for 
their maintenance. The circumstances in which Mr. 
Duntz was placed in his childhood, naturally gave direc- 
tion to his future occupation. The two firms left by his 
father awakened, in his mind, a laudable ambition to con- 
tinue in the avocation of agriculture. Living at a 
distance of two miles from any school house, his oppor- 
tunities for acquiring an education were neither easy nor 
attractive ; but he plodded over the route in the winter 
season, in spite of the cold and bad walking, until he was 
sufficiently versed in the English branches to teach a Dis- 
trict School. 

Mr. Duntz has been a member of the Board of Super- 
visors in his county, for four successive years. In the fall 
of 1865, he was nominated for the Assembly by the 
Republicans, but was defeated by fifty-one majority. 
Last autumn, however, the order of things was reversed, 
and he was elected by eighty-two majority. Mr. Duntz 
is greatly esteemed by those who have known him from a 
boy, and is recognized as a loyal, patriotic citizen. Offi- 
cially, he is not among those who do a vast amount of 
superlative talking, but in the main, his acts display his 
good common sense of which he has a large stock. 



CHARLES G. ELLIS. 



Mr. Ellis was born in the city of Schenectady, Schenec- 
tady county, New York, on the 27th of October, 1842. 
He is of Scotch descent, his father, John Ellis, having 
emigrated to this country from Scotland, about the year 
1820. His mother was of the same origin, and in moral, 
and intellectual qualities, was excelled by few. His father 
has been long and favorably known throughout the United 
States, as the proprietor of one of the largest Locomotive 
Works in the country ; and the engines themselves are 
everywhere known as of the very best finish and the 
greatest durability. Being in affluent circumstances, he 
gave his son Charles opportunities for education, corres- 
ponding to his wealth. For many years, he had the 
advantages of the best Academy in the city of Schenec- 
tady. Having there completed a regular course, he was 
admitted a member of one of the best boarding schools, 
(Doctor Reed's, at Geneva) in the State of New York. 
There his mind gave evidence of that activity and business 
talent which has marked his after life. Attending with 
diligence to his studies, he laid the foundation of a 
thorough education. After leaving that institution, he 
at once entered upon the active duties of life, taking the 
place formerly held by his father, who had recently died. 
He is now one of four brothers who carry on the Schenec- 
tady Locomotive Works. 

He began his political career as a Republican, having 
been elected Alderman of his city in the spring of I860, 
and discharged his duties in a highly satisfactory manner. 
Last fall he was elected to the Assembly by five hundred 
and seventeen majority, in a Democratic county. Though 
not engaged on the field in military service, yet at home, 



JOSEPH B. FAT. 241 

he energetically worked with head and means, for the 
vigorous prosecution of the war ; and from the firing of 
the first gun on Sumter until the fall of the Rebel Con- 
federacy, he Avas a firm, constant and liberal supporter of 
the Government. 

Mr. Ellis is a member of the Committees on the Affairs 
of Villages and Expenditures of the House. Though 
young, he displays discretion in his legislative acts which 
compares favorably with that of maturer years, and 
which promises to give him a post of honor still higher 
than the one which he now holds. 



JOSEPH B. FAY, 



This is Mr. Fat's second term in the House. Repre- 
senting a fine farming section, and being a farmer by 
occupation, he is well qualified to look after the local 
necessities of his district. He is Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Agriculture. 

Being radical in his views, it was natural that he should 
answer the call of the country to defend it, in the hour of 
peril. Therefore, laying aside the implements of peaceful 
pursuits, he enlisted as Captain in the 154th Regiment 
New York Volunteers, on the 22d of August, 1862. He 
was a participant in the battle of Gettysburgh; and, 
during the fight, he was taken prisoner. His regiment 
arrived at the scene of action, on the 1st of July, 1863, 
and was hurried into the engagement as quickly as possible. 
His brigade was ordered to the right, in order to extend 
their line ; but a charge was made by the enemy in over- 
whelming numbers. The enemy's line extending to their 
right, so as to expose the 154th Regiment to an enfilading 
31 



242 LIFE SKETCHES. 

fire, it was compelled to attempt a change of position ; 
but, in the meantime, such an advantage had been gained 
by the opposing forces as to enable them to completely 
hem in the Regiment on three sides. Being thus over- 
powered, a surrender was imperative. Rations were not 
served to the prisoners, until three days after they were 
captured ; and Captain Fay, at the end of that time, had 
four ounces of fresh beef and a cup of raw flour given 
him. Suffering from a wound on his head, which had 
been dealt him by a rebel, in a hand to hand encounter, he 
begged for medical aid , but none was given to him, until 
the seventh day after his capture, when one of the surgeons 
gave him a hasty prescription, with the consoling assurance 
that probably nothing would help him. Being imprisoned 
in Libby Prison, he made up his mind that he had fought 
his last battle, and " hoed his last row." The public are 
familiar with the horrible details of our prisoners' suffer- 
ings; and it is sufficient to say that Captain Fay, during 
eight or nine months, was made to drink the bitter draught 
to the dregs. But through the influence of Misses Anna 
and Amorett Jones, who kindly prevailed upon their 
brother, Mr. S. B. Jones, residing at Memphis, Tennessee, 
to go to Richmond and intercede for him, he was at last 
released from his tortures. 

Captain Fay was born, in 1817. He is of Scotch extrac- 
tion, and possesses many of the points of firmness, so 
common to that race. Although he is not a man Avho may 
be said to " carry his heart on his coat sleeve," yet, when 
fitting occasions present themselves, he is generous and 
charitable. 



LEANDER W. FISKE. 



Mr. Fiske is a lawyear, and a native of Booneville, 
Oneida county, New York, at which place he was born, 
September 30th, 1835. His interests have been connected 
with that town, during his entire life. Booneville, an incor- 
porated village of considerable enterprise, and the terminus 
of the Black River and Utica Railroad, is his present place 
of residence. His ancestors came from England, and settled 
in Rhode Island, as eaidy as 1*725; and though the blood 
of John Bull has not been diluted to any great extent, in 
the veins of succeeding generations, yet, a love for Repub- 
lican institutions has been carefully nurtured and preserved. 
Therefore, it was the most natural thing in the world, that 
Mr. Fiske should cast his virgin vote for John C. Fremont. 
His politics have remained unchanged, except as they have 
advanced with the progressive mutations attending the 
Republican party ; hence, his actions are gauged by 
the great rule of equity and justice to all men, whether 
black or white. He enlisted in 1862, as private in Com- 
pany D, 146th Regiment, New York Volunteers; but he 
was soon discharged by the War Department, on account 
of deafness, which wholly unfitted him for service. Thus 
ended his military career; but he had done his duty to the 
best of his ability, regretting, however, that he could not 
participate in the active scenes of war which were going 
on at the South. On his return home, he resumed his 
profession as a lawyer, which he still follows. He was 
elected to the Assembly, last fall, by a majority of five 
hundred and seventy-one. He was appointed, by the 
Speaker, on the Committees on Two-thirds and Three-fifths 
Bills, and Militia and Public Defense ; he is Chairman of 
the former. 



ALEXANDER FREAK. 



Mr. Frear is of Huguenot extraction. His family- 
emigrated to this country, about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century — the three brothers Frear having obtained 
a grant, from the States of Holland, of lands on the Hud- 
son river, now embraced in the counties of Ulster and 
Dutchess. Their descendants are still numerous in that 
region, and are generally thrifty, prosperous citizens. Mr. 
James B. Frear, of Poughkeepsie, was a man of an 
active, restless temper, and took a strong interest in poli- 
tics. The party feeling between the friends of Governor 
Tompkins and Dewitt Clinton, was very high, and Mr. 
Frear was zealous in his support of the " Bucktails." 
He was one of the most influential Republicans in the 
county of Dutchess, and retained his ascendancy until his 
death, which took place in 1833. His son, the subject of 
this sketch, Alexander Frear, was born at Pough- 
keepsie, on the 18th of August, 1820. He received a 
common school education, and afterward attended the 
academy in his native town. He began, at an early age, 
to display the energy, and other characteristics, for which 
his father had been distinguished. At fourteen, he became 
a clerk in a store at Poughkeepsie, but not being contented 
there, went to New York about three years afterward, 
and, at the age of nineteen, became a partner in the house 
of Sheldon & Company, in Pearl street. He remained 
there until 1848, when he established the importing house 
of Alexander Frear & Company in New York, with 
branches in Chicago and Galena. This firm prospered and 
carried on a heavy business, until the financial revulsion 
of 1857. The effects of this crisis were more disastrous 
at the West, even, than in New York, and the establish- 
ment was compelled to close up its affairs. 



ALEXANDER FREAK. 245 

Mr. Frear now entered more deeply into politics, and 
was elected to the Board of Councilmen, from the Seventh 
Senatorial District. The next year, he was chosen Alder- 
man for the Eleventh District, consisting of the Twentieth 
Ward of the city of New York. The same indefatigable 
energy and singleness of purpose, which had characterized 
him as a man of business, he now displayed in his official 
duties. The rebellion broke out, and he was among the 
foremost in sustaining the Government, using his official, 
as well as personal, influence, to secure the adoption of 
measures for furnishing men and money for the service 
of the country. His enthusiasm was so great, as almost 
to sever his previous political associations, and he took the 
lead in organizing a Union Association in the Twentieth 
Ward, in the fall of 1861, comprising both Democrats and 
Republicans, and electing its candidates for the Assembly 
and other offices. 

In 1865, Mr. Frear was elected to the Assembly by a 
plurality of about eight hundred votes, over a Demo- 
cratic candidate who had the conservative Republican 
nomination. He was reelected in 1866, by an increased 
majority. In the Legislature, as in the Common Council, 
though never distinguished as a debater, he has been 
known as one of the most effective and successful men 
that ever engaged in public business — fully justifying 
his previous reputation for shrewdness, energy and fidelity. 
To these qualifications and endowments, he is indebted 
for his popularity. 



HENRY WEBB GENET. 



Mr. Genet was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Feb- 
ruary 27th, 1828. His father was John M. Genet, a 
native of France, who came to America during the 
troubles which ensued upon the first French Revolution. 
His mother was a native of Ireland, who emigrated to 
this country, in childhood. 

Mr. Genet, the elder, removed to Albany when the 
subject of our notice was about one year of age, and 
went into commercial business, near the river. His son 
Henry attended school in Albany, for several years, and 
then taking a fancy for the life of an agriculturist, was 
placed upon a farm in the town of Monroe, Saratoga 
county, where he remained four or five years, diligently 
prosecuting his literary studies, during the winter months. 
When about sixteen years of age, Mr. Genet left the 
farm, and entered the Glens Falls Academy, where he 
remained about a year and a half. He then left and went 
to the city of New York, where his father was then resid- 
ing. 

When about nineteen years of age, he entered the 
University of the city of New York, at which he remained 
two years, and then entered the law office of Mr. Hastings, 
in that city, and was, in due time, admitted, finishing his 
preparatory studies in the office of McCunn & Moncrief. 
He was, in early life, an enthusiastic admirer of Henry 
Clay, and, during the life of that great man, naturally 
acted with the Whig party. On the dissolution of that 
organization, he joined the Democracy, with which he 
lias ever since cooperated. In 1857, he was elected on the 
Democratic ticket to the Board of Councilmen from the 
Twelfth Ward of New York. The following year he 



HENRY WEBB GENET. 217 

was elected Alderman, and reelected two years after, 
being chosen President of the Board, during the last 
two years of his term. In 1861, he was elected to the 
responsible office of County Clerk, the duties of which 
he discharged during the years 1862, 1863 and 1864. 
He was elected to represent the Twenty-first Assembly 
District of the city and county of New York, at the 
fall election of 1866. Mr. Genet is a quiet member, 
closely attentive to the business of the House, and exer- 
cises great influence where he is known. He is a thorough 
politician, but is neither narrow nor exclusive in his par- 
tisanship, and is one of the most efficient workers on 
the floor. 

During the three most important years of the war, 
viz. : the years ending January 1st, 1864, Mr. Genet, 
as President of the Board of Aldermen was, ex officio, a 
member of the War Fund Committee, of which the Mayor 
of the city, and the President of the Board of Council- 
men, were also, ex officio members. Every one remembers 
the constant and valuable aid rendered by this organization 
to the National Government, during the dark era of our 
history which has just closed so triumphantly, and there 
was, on the Committee, no one who privately, or in his 
public capacity, was found more ready to support every 
measure dictated by patriotism, than Mr. Genet; and 
his votes will always be found in favor of the most 
lavish support, in blood and treasure, of our threatened 
Nationality. 



GEORGE C. GIBBS. 



Mr. Gibbs was born in the town of Harpersfield, Dela- 
ware county, New York, on the 6th of January, 1832. 
His father removed with his family to Jefferson, Scho- 
harie county, in 1840, where he purchased a farm, on» 
which the later boyhood of Mr Gibbs was passed. After 
receiving a good common school and academic education, 
for some years he taught common schools during the 
winter, and aided in the labors of the farm, in summer. 

When he reached the age of twenty-one, he was nomi- 
nated on the Whig ticket, and elected town Superintendent 
of Schools for the town of Jefferson. He afterward 
applied himself to the study of architecture, and finally 
entered into business, as a contractor and builder, in Stam- 
ford, Delaware county. He pursued that business until 
the Southern conflict. 

In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, 3d New 
York Cavalry, then being raised by Captain (afterward 
Colonel) Ferris Jacobs, Jr. When the company was 
mustered in at Elmira, he was chosen Quartermaster- 
Sergeant, and was soon promoted to First Sergeant. 

Early in 1863, he was commissioned First Lieutenant, 
his regiment being stationed at Newbern, North Carolina. 
In September and October, 1864, he served as Acting- 
Assistant Inspector-General, on the Staff of Colonel R. M. 
West, commanding the 2nd Brigade of General Kautz's 
Cavalry Division. He was promoted to Captain, in the 
following January, and served upon the Staff of Colonel 
Geo. W. Lewis, until his regiment was consolidated with 
the 1st New York Mounted Rifles, forming the 4th New 
York Provisional Cavalry. While he was attached to that 
regiment, he participated in almost every battle and skir- 



GEORGE C. GIBBS. 249 

mish in which his regiment was engaged during its whole 
period of service. On all these occasions, he behaved 
with conspicuous gallantry. The courage and address with 
which he led the advance into an entrenched camp of 
the Rebels, near Kinston, and his coolness, when, under the 
command of Major Hall, his squadron of Cavalry covered 
the retreat of General Wilson, after his raid upon the 
communications of General Lee, in 1865, were especially 
admired *by his brother officers. On the latter occasion, 

i the whole Rebel column was kept at bay, for more than 
an hour, until the bridge over Stony Creek was burned, 
and our cavalry finally escaped by swimming the stream. 
Lieutenant Gibbs spurred his horse off a high rock into 

I the river, and barely escaped in safety. 

In the battle of Goldsboro', he was slightly wounded by 
a musket ball, in the arm and side, his life being saved 
by a package of papers in his coat pocket ; and in an 
engagement on the Derbytown road, before Richmond, he 
was severely wounded through the left leg, by a Minie 
ball. 

Last year, he received a commission as Brevet-Major, 
New York Volunteers, for " gallant and rnei'itorious ser- 

1 vices in the late war" — a testimonial to his worth and 
fidelity as an officer. Major Gibbs is now engaged in 
business as a stove and tin dealer, in Stamford, Delaware 
county. He was nominated for Member of Assembly, by 
the Republican party, in 1866, and received a majority of 
two hundred and seventy-four votes over his competitor. 
When the Speaker made his appointments, he placed Mr. 
Gibbs on the Committees on State Prisons, and Charitable 
and Religious Societies. 

32 



COLUMBUS GILL. 



Mr. Gill represents Warren county, and is a Member 
of the Committee on Roads and Bridges. Like a majority 
of the prominent men of the times, he is a self-made man. 
His father was a native of England, who came to this 
country before the days of the Revolution, in which he 
took an active part in favor of his adopted country. His 
mother was a true New England woman, who taught the 
principles of liberty to her numerous family of boys, two 
of whom were in the war of 1812, and participated in the 
battle of Plattsburgh. 

Mr. Gill was born in Castleton, Vermont, in 1809. He 
now lives in Stony Creek, New York. By avocation, he is 
a merchant; and, through industry and frugality, enjoys a 
competency. He has been for many years a Justice of the 
Peace, Supervisor, several terms Justice of Sessions, and 
Postmaster. Mr. Gill is a straightforward, independent 
man, positive and firm in his convictions; he cares little 
for dull abstractions, looking upon matters in a practical 
light, and giving no time to outward show. His views of 
general matters are clear and comprehensive. To a 
stranger he might at times aj)pear somewhat reticent, 
though he is frank and cordial — a true friend. 



GEORGE M. GLEASON. 



This gentleman, representing the First District of St. 
Lawrence county, was born in what was then called Poto 
Ferry, and which is now the town of Pitcairn, New York. 
He is thirty-eight years old. 

Mr. Gleasox attended school until eighteen years of 
age, when he became a teacher. He taught until he was 
twenty-eight years old. Since that time, he has been 
engaged in farming. 

In September, 1861, he enlisted in the service of the 
United States, as a private in Company D, 60th Regiment 
New York Volunteers. In October following he was 
made Second Lieutenant, in which capacity he served 
either with his company, then stationed at the Relay 
House, Maryland, guarding the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road, or in recruiting service at Ogdensburgh, until May, 
1862, when his regiment was ordered to report to General 
Sigel at Harper's Ferry. Soon after their arrival he was 
appointed Assistant-Quartermaster of the Regiment, and 
accompanied it on its marches through the Shenandoah 
and Rappahannock Valleys, until August, when he was 
attacked with typhoid fever, in consequence of which he 
was reduced from one hundred and ninety pounds to one 
hundred and eight. The surgeon in charge informed him 
that there was no probability of his recovering his health, 
while in active service, and he therefore tendered his 
resignation accompanied by the surgeon's certificate of 
disability, which was accepted. In his emaciated condi- 
tion, he returned home. 

Mr. Gleason has three times been chosen Supervisor 
of Pitcairn; he also served five years as Justice of the 
Peace, and four years as town Superintendent of Common 



252 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Schools. In 1866, he represented his district in the Legis- 
lature, and he has been retarned to the present Assembly 
by an increased majority. The Speaker appointed him on 
the Committee on Claims, and Indian Affairs ; he is Chair- 
man of the latter. 

Mr. Gleason began political life as a Democrat, and 
voted with that party until 1856, "when he cast his first 
Republican vote for John C. Fremont. Since then he 
has been a Republican of the most radical character, advo- 
cating negro suffrage, and opposing amnesty to rebels ; in 
these sentiments he reflects the opinions of his constitu- 
ents. Mr. Gleason is a plain, modest man, and is 
endowed with good, practical sense. 



JOHN VON GUILDER GRIDLEY. 



Mr. Gridley is a descendant of one of the oldest Welsh 
families on our soil. His great-grandfather was one of 
three brothers who emigrated to this country about the 
year 1728, settling in different sections, Mr. Gridley's 
direct ancestor locating in Connecticut. Mr. Grid- 
ley's grandfather married the only sister of Major Von 
Guilder, of New Jersey, and removed to New York 
city. By this marriage, there were two children, a son 
and a daughter. The son, John Von Guilder Gridley, 
became a prominent builder of New York city, instituted 
the Builders' Protective Association, and held the position 
of President of the organization, at the time of his death. 
His second son, the present Member of the House, was 
born on the 29th of March, 1822, at the corner of Spencer 
and Thompson streets, New York city, where his father 
lived until Mr. Gridley was nearly six years of age, 



JOHN VON GUILDER GRIDLEY. 253 

-when lie removed into King street, residing there until his 
death. Mr. Gridley succeeded his father in the building 
business, and became equally eminent in it. After follow- 
ing the avocation for many years, he turned his attention 
to the law, studied and graduated at the New York Univer- 
sity, commenced its practice, and is now an able lawyer 
of New York city. This is Mr. Gridley's first term in 
the Assembly. He has exhibited superior qualifications, 
as a working legislator. He is a valuable Member of the 
Committee on Cities, bringing to that responsible posi- 
tion a thorough knowledge of the governmental machinery, 
political complications, and diverse business interests of 
New York city, which, with his quick perceptions, not 
only of the general merits of the measures that come 
before the Committee, but of the detail of their pro- 
visions, contribute to give him a powerful influence in 
shaping legislation in the place where the work is really 
done, in Committee. 



WILLIAM GURLEY, 



Mr. Gitrley is of New England origin, his parents 
having removed from Mansfield, Connecticnt, in the year 
1813, and settled in West Troy, Albany county, New 
York. Here his father, Ephraim Gitrley, started an iron 
foundery, in 1816; and, two years later, removed to Troy, 
then a newly incorporated but already thriving city, on 
the east side of the river, where, in connection with Mr. 
Alpheits Hanks, he established the first iron foundery in 
Rensselaer county — a business which has now grown to 
be a most important interest in that section of the State. 

William Gitrley was born in the city of Troy, March 
16th, 1821 ; his father dying in 1829, he and a younger 
brother and sister were left to the sole care of a widowed 
mother, of comparatively feeble health, and of small pecu- 
niary means. Rightly judging that knowledge and virtue 
were the foundation of all true excellence, she gave her 
children, not only a careful religious training at home, but 
also the best education afforded by the schools, in her 
immediate vicinity. 

William choosing the profession of a Civil Engineer, 
attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, then, and 
now, an excellent scientific school, from which he gradu- 
ated with credit, in 1839. 

After following the business of a Surveyor for some 
years, he turned his attention to the manufacture of the 
instruments with whose use he was already familiar, 
learning the business in the shop of Mr. Hanks, then a 
well known maker of surveying instruments, in the city 
of Troy. After remaining with Mr. Hanks for five years, 
he entered into partnership with Mr. Jonas H. Phelps, in 
the year 1845, and with him prosecuted the same business, 



WILLIAM GURLEY. 255 

much more extensively, for the next seven years, at the 
end of which time the firm became changed by the with- 
drawal of Mr. Phelps, and the accession of his younger 
brother. The new firm, under the name of W. & L. E. 
Gurley, at once greatly increased their facilities ; and, 
for fifteen years past, they have been by far the most 
extensive manufacturers of engineers' and surveyors' instru- 
ments in the United States. The great fire of May 10th, 
1862, entirely consumed their establishment, but nothing 
daunted, even for an hour, they at once commenced to 
rebuild on a scale nearly four times larger than the first. 
They have since been abundantly rewarded for their 
courao-e and foresight. 

The prominence of Mr. Gurley as a business man, and 
his well known intelligence and integrity, have long been 
recognized by the community with which his life has 
been identified ; and, though always refusing to seek any 
position in public life, he has never shrunk from what he 
conceived to be his duty as a man and a citizen ; and very 
few in the community have been more actively engaged 
in all the entei'prises which tend to elevate mankind. But 
few years of his mature life have passed free from the 
cares of public office : he has faithfully labored as Trus- 
tee of several educational and religious institutions ; con- 
nected for years with the Young Men's Association, in 
important positions, he was, in 1851, elected its President, 
after a canvass, the warmth of which is still well remem- 
bered. 

As Alderman of his native ward, he served with general 
acceptance from 1860, to 1864; and as Fire Commissioner, 
he helped, in 1861, to inaugurate the greatly improved 
system, now so .much approved in all our larger cities. 
He is a member of the Board, up to the present time. 
In November, 1866, he was nominated by the Republicans 
of Troy, as the Representative of his native city in the 



256 "LIFE SKETCHES. 

Assembly of the State of New York. The district had, 
for a series of years, been strongly of the opposite politics, 
being relied upon, pretty uniformly, for a majority of four 
or five hundred. Mr. Gurley, however, entered into the 
canvass, personally, and though nominated almost as a 
forlorn hope, at the heel of the election, against T. B. Car- 
koll, he still surprised himself and his friends by obtaining 
a majority of eight hundred and fourteen. He is a 
Member of the Committee on the Affairs of Cities. 

Mr. Gurley, yet in the prime of a vigorous manhood, 
is widely known as a capable and successful business man, 
and financier, being now, Vice-President of the National 
Exchange Bank, of Troy, and adorning all the relations j 
of public and private life. He may, with reason, look 
forward to positions of even greater usefulness and honor j 
in the future. 



LEWIS B. HALSEY. 



Me. Halsey, Member of Assembly from the First Dis- 
trict of Orange county, is one of the youngest members 
of the Legislature for 1867, having been born at his 
present place of residence, Newburgh, on the 31st day of 
January, 1841. On the paternal side, he springs from an 
English ancestry, and upon the maternal, from Dutch blood, 
though his more immediate progenitors were natives of 
this country. Having passed the earlier years of his life, 
in his native town, and availed himself of such educational 
advantages as were within his reach, Mr. Halsey in the 
fall of 1860, entered college at Nassau Hall, Princeton, 
New Jersey, where he held creditable rank with his fellow 
students during a full course of four years, and from 
whence he graduated with all the collegiate honors, in the 
class of 1864. Having already fixed upon the law as his 
future profession, Mr. Halsey upon graduating, entered 
the office of one of Philadelphia's most distinguished advo- 
cates — Benjamin F. Bruce, Esq., and, in due course, was 
admitted to practice in the courts of this State, at Brook- 
lyn, in December, 1865. Subsequently he opened a law 
office at Newburgh, where he has since remained. In per- 
sonal appearance, Mr. Halsey is of full, medium stature, 
with a broad and well-formed forehead, a keen, penetrating 
eye that meets one with a frank, assuring kindliness, and 
which added to a modest self-possession that is both natu- 
ral and becoming, mark him out as a young man of 
excellent promise. And those who know him best, look 
with confidence to his future career, both as a private 
citizen, and in any public station, the duties of which he 
may be called upon to discharge. In politics, Mr. Hal- 
sey is a Republican ; was elected over his Democratic 
33 



258 I^E SKETCHES. 

competitor, Mr. Halset R. Stevens, an old and worthy 
fellow-townsman, by a majority of 1,148 in a total vote of 
6 136. He is a Member of the Committees on Judiciary, 
and Engrossed Bills. 



SHEFFIELD HARRINGTON. 



Modest in demeanor, honest in purpose, and correct in 
action, Mr. Harrington is one of that kind of men who 
win respect, though they do not seek the plaudits of the 
multitude. Steady-going in their habits, they command 
the regard of the public, and share in the labor, as well 
as in the reward. Mr. Harrington was born in New 
Lisbon, Otsego county, New York, June 25th, 1809, 
whence his father moved from Rhode Island, in 1780. His 
boyhood was unmarked by any remarkable events, and 
he pursued the course of ordinary, every-day life, with- 
out having to practice any great self-denials, and without 
being satiated with an overplus of luxuries. Following 
a plain mode of life, he appreciated whatever indulgences 
were allowed him, and did not grumble because he could 
not be favored like those in more pleasant spheres of 
action. Storing his mind, from the common opportunities 
of the country schools in those days, he fitted himself for 
mercantile pursuits, in which he is engaged at the present 
time, in the town of Hartwick, New York. In early 
manhood, he served a regular apprenticeship at wool-card- 
ing and cloth-dressing, and worked at that business for 
nearly fifteen years. When the tide of prejudice against 
Free Masonry assumed a political form, Mr. Harrington 
was an Anti-Mason. After that excitement had subsided, 



PALMER E. HAVENS. 259 

lie attached himself to the Whigs, and held various offices, 
of a local nature, in the interest of that party. He 
unhesitatingly joined the Republicans, in 1856, and he has 
been unwavering in his faithfulness. He was a Member 
of the House in 18G6, and served on the Committee on 
Charitable and Religious Societies, and was Chairman of 
the Committee on Affairs of Villages. His District has 
returned him, with an increased majority, thus assuring 
him of the satisfaction which he has already given by his 
legislative acts. He is Chairman of the same Committee 
as that of last year, and is also serving on the Commit- 
tee on Grievances. 



PALMER E. HAVENS. 



Palmer E. Havens stands prominent among the best 
class of our legislators. He was born November 24th, 
1818, in the town of Moriah, Essex county, New York. 
His father, Deacon John Havens, a Roger Williams 
Baptist, and a pioneer settler of that town, though always 
in humble circumstances, was a man of piety, known and 
respected for that decision of character and firmness of 
purpose, which was the only, yet, as it proved, a sufficient 
legacy to his son. 

His father's limited means and large family obliged the 
son, scarcely beyond his childhood, to care for himself. 
The interrupted attendance of the common school of his 
native place, was the only educational privilege which he 
enjoyed imtil after his sixteenth year; yet, so much had 
his ready intellect and energy accomplished, that, at this 
age, he commenced teaching, and was most successful in 
this pursuit for the ten years following. His continued 



2G0 LIFE SKETCHES. 

effort at self-culture under better advantages, in the mean 
time, made him a proficient mathematician and English 
scholar. During the same time, he entered the law office 
of the late General Henry H. Ross, of Essex, and was 
admitted to the Bar in 1843. 

Essex, the loveliest of our northern villages, " the abode 
of wealth, intelligence and refinement," he selected as the 
field of his future professional labors. Prompt and faithful 
attention to bxisiness, and zeal for his client, won for him a 
wide reputation and a lucrative practice. Although the 
earnest prosecution of matters placed in his hands, may- 
have sometimes made him the object of that ungenerous 
spirit of animosity which is often indulged toward the 
legal ability and diligence which has forced the unwilling 
discharge of just obligations, yet his popularity has always 
been of a steady growth to that degree which is evidenced 
by the hearty support which he has always received from 
his neighbors, at the polls. Confirmed in his religious and 
political faith, he is, nevertheless, liberal in his treatment 
of those who differ with him ; and is generous hearted and 
public spirited. He supported the old Whig party while 
it existed, and for years, he has given his influence to the 
Republican organization. His party relations have been 
dignified and unswerving. In his own town, at different 
periods, he has held the offices of Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, Town Clerk and Supervisor. 

In the fall of 1861, when the dangers which threatened 
the country made the people anxious to send their best 
men to represent them, Mr. Havens was put in nomina- 
tion, for Member of Assembly, and elected — his own 
town voting for him almost unanimously. Americanism, 
in its day, had won to its support nearly two-thirds of 
the voters of Essex, and, as Mr. Havens would never 
have anything to do with " Sam," the prospect for a large 
"home vote" — that very sure index of popularity — was 



PALMER E. HAVENS. 261 

not flattering. Yet, so much did party spirit give way to 
the respect which he commanded, that, out of the ten 
hundred and forty-eight votes of his townsmen, he received 
ten hundred and twenty-seven. 

In the Legislature of 1862, which was marked for its 
ability, his courteous and gentlemanly bearing, attention to 
business, and readiness in debate, gained him firm friends 
among his associates, and a reputation in the State. His 
advocacy of the bill for the Public Defense, and other 
important general measures, as well as his success in mat- 
ters of special interest to his constituents, marked his 
fitness for his position. On his return, his constituents 
met him, and, by a public demonstration, indorsed his 
course and welcomed him home. In the succeeding fall, 
he was renominated and reelected. His second year was 
marked by his able reviews of Governor Seymour's Mes- 
sage, which, with others of his speeches, in the Legislature 
and on the " stump," have been widely circulated by his 
party. 

In 1863, he was elected Senator from his District (Six- 
teenth), and his two years in the Upper House, fully 
guaranteed his ability. Outspoken and fearless in the 
enunciation of his views, he counseled only his own con- 
science and judgment, as to his actions. His speeches 
were always substantial, and showed that labor and Care 
in preparation, which mark all his undertakings. 

In the fall of 1866, leading and influential men of 
Northern New York, feeling that the interests of that 
section needed a live representative, more than urged Mr. 
Havens to accept another nomination for Member of the 
Assembly. His choice was for the quiet and more profit- 
able pursuit of his profession, and the enjoyment of his 
beautiful home, which his means has enabled him to 
arrange to his own refined taste; but the nomination 
having been tendered by acclamation, he accepted and 



262 LIFE SKETCHES. 

was elected by nearly twelve hundred majority. He was 
strongly urged, by influential men, within and without the 
Legislature, for the Speakership, but he declined to enter 
the contest against personal friends who desired the place. 
Of middle age, among the ablest Members of the pres- 
ent Legislature, popular at home and abroad, with a clear 
and patriotic record, without political mistakes to embar- 
rass him, and with a growing experience in public affairs, 
we have reason to expect a future as progressive and suc- 
cessful as the past. 



STEPHEN HAYNES. 



Mr. Hatnes is the oldest member of the House, being 
sixty-five years of age. He is the representative of the 
Fourth District of Kings county. He was born in the year 
1802, in Southampton, Suffolk county, New York. His 
ancestors were originally from England, and among their 
descendants, was the famous Governor Hayne, of South 
Carolina, whose great discussion with Daniel Webster 
is now a matter of history. When but a small boy, the 
last war with Great Britain began, and Mr. Hatnes, full 
of martial fire, volunteered his services, and was regularly 
enlisted as a member of the Sea Fencibles, stationed at Sag 
Harbor. He remained in the service eighteen months, and 
in the course of time, duly received his land warrant from 
the United States Government. 

Mr. Hatnes, when quite young, was employed on a 
farm in his native place, but shortly after the war, in 
which he participated, he went to New York, and, 
engaging with a mason, thoroughly learned the art of 
building. In 1822, then of age, Mr. Haynes moved to 



THEODORE HINSDALE. 263 

Brooklyn, and engaged in business for himself, as a 
builder, in which he was very successful. Among the 
specimens of architecture, in the City of Churches, which 
reflect credit upon his skill, are the City Hall, the County 
Jail, and the Lunatic Asylum, at Flatbush. 

Mr. Haynes early took a deep interest in politics, as a 
Democrat. When Brooklyn was first incorporated, he 
was chosen Alderman of the Seventh Ward, serving in 
that capacity several years, afterward being chosen Super- 
visor for a number of successive terms. As a member of 
the Board of Education, he was noted for his deep interest 
in the spread of knowledge, and in all places of public 
trust, he was equally distinguished for attention to duty, 
and a thorough acquaintance with it. 

This is Mr. Haynes' second term in the Assembly, 
having been a member of the Legislature of 1865; and 
few are more successful in forwarding measures for the 
benefit of their constituents than he. 



THEODORE HINSDALE. 



Mr. Hinsdale was born in Middletown, Connecticut, 
February 30th, 1819; graduated from the Wesleyan 
University in that place, in 1836; was admitted to the 
Bar in 1840, and has since practiced law in New York 
city, residing in Brooklyn since 1846. He was elected 
Alderman for the Third Ward of that city in 1865. Mr. 
Hinsdale is a very successful lawyer, of large practice ; 
is of irreproachable moral character, and strict integrity ; 
a high toned gentleman and thorough scholar. These 
qualifications, together with his intimate knowledge of 
the business interests and local government of Kings 



264 LIFE SKETCHES. 

county, his acquaintance with the affairs of New York 
city, and his cool and cautious dissection of every project, 
has rendered hirn an influential and safe member of the 
Committee on Cities. 



CHARLES WESLEY HINSON. 



Me. Hinson" was horn in the city of Buffalo, Erie county, 
New York, on the 20th day of November, 1844. He is 
the youngest member of the Assembly, having been elected, 
two weeks before completing his twenty-second year. 
His father was born on the Island of Heligoland, of 
English parents, in 1818. His mother was born in the 
county of Longford, Ireland, in the same year. 

Mr. Hinson is a graduate of the Central High School 
of Buffalo. After graduation, he worked one year at the 
trade of Machinist, and then studied law in the office 
of Hon. James M. Humphrey, Member of Congress, 
Thirty-first District, New York ; and was admitted to the 
Bar, May 9th, 1866. 

Shortly after Mr. Hinson's admission to practice, the 
Fenian affair at Fort Erie occurred, and General John 
O'Neill, commanding that expedition, together with his 
companions in arms, numbering twenty-five officers and 
some four hundred men, were taken prisoners by the 
United States authorities. The officers were kept aboard 
the United States steamer Michigan, while the men were 
kept on an open scow, exposed to the drizzling rain, 
without the slightest shelter. While looking at the suf- 
ferings of these poor men and while every one was 
wondering what would be done with the prisoners, the 
idea occurred to Mr. Hixson to apply to a court for Avrits 



CHARLES WESLEY HINSON. 265 

of habeas corpus, to ascertain by what authority the 
prisoners were held. Accordingly, he immediately drew 
up the applications, in eighteen cases, and applied to Hon. 
G. W. Clinton, one of the Justices of the Superior 
Court of Buffalo, who allowed the writs. Mi*. Hinson 
took a small boat, went aboard the Michigan, and served 
the writs on Captain Andrew Brtson, and also had an 
interview with the prisoners, who received him with 
loud cheers. Next day, an officer appeared before Judge 
Clinton, making excuses for not producing the bodies of 
the prisoners. The Judge gave him twenty-four hours 
time, during which, warrants were issued for the men by 
Perry G. Parker, United States Commissioner, before 
whom the officers were taken next morning, guarded by a 
Regiment of United States Infantry, which was stationed 
at Fort Porter, at the time. 

The officers were allowed to give bail for various 
amounts, and the privates were immediately discharged 
on their own recognizances. Subsequently, a nolle pro- 
sequi was entered in all the cases, by order of the 
Attorney-General of the United States. 

Mr. Hinson is a positive Democrat : he was opposed to 
the abandoning of the time-honored name of Democracy ; 
and he believes that had the Democratic Convention nom- 
inated a straight ticket, and called things by their proper 
names, they would have elected Mr. Hoffman for Gov- 
ernor, and carried the State by a large majority. 

Mr. Hinson was elected by the Democrats of the First 
District of Erie county, comprising the First, Fifth, Eighth 
and Thirteenth Wards, and the town of West Seneca, by 
a majority of 388, over the Republican candidate. He 
serves on the Committees on Engrossed Bills and Petitions 
of Aliens. 

34 



L. HARRIS HISCOCK. 



Mr. Hiscock was born the? 2d of May, 1824, in the 
town of Pouipey, Onondaga county, New York. His 
parents were of English and Scotch origin. His grand- 
father, Richard Hiscock, was a soldier in the American 
Revolution. The maternal ancestry of Mr. Hiscock was 
a long line of Harrises, coming down to the family con- 
nection of Hon. Ira Harris, United States Senator, who 
is a cousin of the subject of our sketch. Mr. Hiscock had 
only the advantages of an academical education, but he 
has acquired a high mental culture which many collegians 
might feel proud to possess. He was a farmer's son, and 
at the age of seventeen, commenced teaching common 
school in his town. In February, 1845, he was elected by 
the Democracy to the office of Town Superintendent of 
Schools, of the town of Pompey. This position he held 
for two years, having, in the mean time, inaugurated a 
great improvement in the old style of teaching. In the 
interim he had given much time to the study of law, and 
finally completed his studies with that distinguished 
lawyer, Hon. Daniel Gott, of Pompey, and was admitted 
to the Bar, in 1848, he being one of four admitted, out of 
a class of nine. In the same year, he opened a law office 
at Tully, Onondaga county, and in February, 1849, was 
elected Justice of the Peace of that town, which office he 
held for four years. In 1850, he was elected Sui3ervisor of 
the same town, and was almost unanimously reelected in 
1851. In the fall of that year, the Democrats nominated 
him for the office of Surrogate, against Colonel Mustard, 
a popular AVhig, who was then an incumbent of the office. 
The contest was unusually spirited, and to a great extent 



L. HARRIS HISCOCK. 267 

personal, and resulted in Mr. Hiscock's election, by six 
hundred majority. He held this office until January 1st, 
1856, when he opened a law office in Syracuse, still con- 
tinuing his practice in Tully, which was managed princi- 
pally by Frank Hiscock, Esq., his brother and law 
partner. In the spring of 1858, the Tully office was dis- 
continued, and both partners conducted their business in 
Syracuse, where the firm still exists, doing a general prac- 
tice, but making the settlement of estates a specialty, to 
some extent. 

Mr. Hiscock was an active Democrat, up to 1856, when 
he united in a call of seventeen dissatisfied Democrats, for 
a meeting at the City Hall, Syracuse, in July of that year, 
which culminated in a Republican majority of nearly seven 
thousand in the county of Onondaga, at the ensuing Presi- 
dential election. 

During the rebellion, Mr. Hiscock was a co-laborer in 
the cause of patriotism. He contributed of his means 
freely, and used his influence to promote enlistments, and 
to aid the government generally in its struggle for 
liberty. 

In the fall of 1865, he was, by acclamation, nominated 
by the Republicans for Member of Assemby in the Third 
District of Onondaga county, and was elected by a 
majority of over thirteen hundred. On the organization 
of the House, he was placed second, respectively, on the 
Committees on Judiciary, Local General Orders, and 
Public Lands. As Judge Selden, Chairman of the Judi- 
ciary Committee, was ill most of the session, the duties 
of the Chairmanship, during Judge Selden's absence, 
were performed by Mr. Hiscock, who signalized himself 
in the protracted discussions which frequently came up, on 
important questions. In the fall of 1856, he was reelected 
to the Legislature from the Second (under the late appor- 
tionment) District, by a majority of twelve hundred and 



268 LIFE SKETCHES. 

forty-one, being fifty votes over that of the Republican 
State ticket. On his election, the New York Tribune 
and other leading Republican journals coupled his name 
for the Speakership with that of the present incumbent, 
Speaker Pitts, as well as with the names of other promi- 
nent gentlemen of the party ; and, although many ardent 
friends, in various part of the State, urged him to be a 
candidate for the position, he declined. Mr. Hiscock, in 
this session, is ably serving as Chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, and is second on Privileges and Elections. 

Although his life has not been fraught with many 
public offices, yet it is a gratification to his many friends 
to know that what few positions he lias filled, have been 
honored by his industry and integrity. He is a self-made 
man. Perhaps no lawyer, in his county, comes in contact 
annually with more people, in his office, than he. It is 
not alone his legal knowledge that is sought after, but his 
ripe judgment relative to public affairs, his candid opinion 
on private matters, and his sympathy in the daily walks 
of life. He is courteous, and all feel at home in his 
society ; he is honest, and all respect and trust him. He 
is neither vain nor haughty, neither boastful nor arbitrary ; 
but, while he accords to everyone purity of motives, and 
gives due weight to their opinions, he has the firmness to 
express his own views freely, and to defend them against 
any attack. Being cautious, he is seldom led into error; 
but, being candid, he is ever ready to acknowledge his 
mistake. He practices no deceit, yet is quick to discern 
it when sought to be practiced upon him or his friends. 
He is true to party, and as faithful to friendship. If 
selfish, he is honorably so, for he seeks not to destroy 
others to build up himself. Though rigid in economy, 
lie is benevolent to a worthy cause, and will not lend his 
aid to any other, either for public policy or personal 
popularity. 



ADOLPHUS F. HITCHCOCK. 269 

As a debater, Mr. Hiscock is fluent and brief. He is 
not sparkling, but solid, clear and logical. He uses no 
fulsome oratory for the heart, but carries convincing argu- 
ments directly to the mind with irresistible force. 



ADOLPHUS F. HITCHCOCK. 



The town of Kingsbury, Washington county New 
York, is the native place of Mr. Hitchcock, where he was 
reared and educated. He is still a resident of that place. 
His father was Collins Hitchcock, for many years a 
Justice of the Peace of the same town. His grandfather 
was Asahel Hitchcock, also a magistrate, of whom 
special mention is made in the sketch of Attorney-General 
Maetindale contained in this volume. It will be seen 
that Mr. Hitchcock and the Attorney-General (also a 
native of the town of Kingsbury), are nearly related. 
The Hitchcocks have long held a prominent place in 
Washington county. His grand uncle, Zlna Hitchcock, 
was member of Assembly from that county, from 1*790 to 
1794, and State Senator, from 1794 to 1803. Two of his 
brothers have served as Sheriff, and one is now county 
clerk of the county of Washington ; other members of 
his family have held various prominent public stations in 
that portion of the State. 

Adolphus F. Hitchcock is a farmer by occupation, 
residing upon and cultivating the same farm which was 
owned and cultivated by his father and grandfather before 
him. He represents by his industry, his intelligence and 
his honesty the agricultural class which compose the 
major part of that rich and populous county. From 
early life, with a clear discernment of the character and 



270 LIFE SKETCHES. 

motives of men, a high appreciation of good government 
and wholesome laws, he has wielded no small influence in 
the political councils of his party throughout the county. 
Mr. Hitchcock formerly belonged to the old party of 
" Clay Whigs ; " by them he was elected, in 1847, to repre- 
sent the same district as that of which he now is the 
representative. On that occasion, he acquitted himself 
honorably, and with credit to his constituency. He became 
a member of the Republican party in its infancy, and has 
proved himself to be one of its most active and efficient sup- 
porters. His patriotic advocacy of the war, and his efforts 
to sustain the Union, were but the manifestations of a well- 
settled principle. He has held the office of Justice of the 
Peace for many years. Quiet and unassuming in his dis- 
position, he generally has preferred the more peaceful 
pursuits of the farm, though never flinching from duty, 
even though it might call him away from his congenial 
occupation. This is the first instance, in that district, in 
which a representative has been reelected to the Assembly. 
His majority over his competitor was 1,112. Mr. Hitch- 
cock is over sixty-three years of age. Having passed the 
meridian of life, the people have placed these honors upon 
him, in his advanced years, feeling that he cannot be 
swerved from their interests by opposing influences. 



ABRAHAM HOFFMAN. 



Mr. Hoffman began his political life as a Whig, and 
entertained the principles of Henry Clay, until the death 
of that eminent man. After the disintegration of the 
Whig party, Mr. Hoffman followed the current of 
the American organization ; but he soon became convinced 
that his course was inconsistent, and he therefore with- 
drew, and engaged in the work of organizing the Repub- 
lican ranks in his county. Mr. Hoffman was the first 
Republican Sheriff elected in Montgomery county, serving 
as such for three years. Since then, he has held several 
minor offices. Last fall, he was put in nomination for the 
Assembly, against Isaac S. Frost, the Democratic nomi- 
nee. At the preceding election, the Democrats had elected 
their candidate by a majority of one hundred and eighty- 
nine. With such facts before Mr. Hoffman and his 
friends, they were incited to herculean efforts for success. 
After a warm contest, the Republicans elected him by 
eight majority. 

He is of German parentage. Caughnawaga, Montgom- 
ery county, New York, is his native town, in which he- 
was born, on the 31st day of March, 1810. At the age of 
seventeen, having received a limited education, he worked 
by the month ; at twenty-six, commenced business as a 
contractor on the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad, in which 
he continued until 1838, when he took a contract on the 
Croton Water Works, continuing in that business until 
1841. At that time, Mr. Hoffman removed to Fort Plain, 
Montgomery county, and entered largely into the forward- 
ing and produce business, which he still conducts. 

In the Assembly, he is a member of the Committees on 
Canals, and Privileges and Elections. 



BUSHROD E. HOPPIN. 



This gentleman is a son of Curtis Hoppin, a farmer in 
the town of Lebanon, Madison county, New York. After 
attending the Eaton and Hamilton Academies, from the 
age of sixteen to nineteen years, he taught school two 
winters. He afterward, in company with his brother, 
drove a flock of sheep to Illinois, and after disposing of 
them in the way of speculation, returned to the town 
of his nativity, and followed farming and dairying until 
the spring of 1855, when he went to Sangamon county, 
Illinois, and engaged in raising live stock. In the autumn 
of 1858, he and a partner, William S. Head, started for 
Texas with a drove of twelve hundred sheep ; they win- 
tered in Southwest Missouri. In August following, they 
resumed their journey through the Indian Territory, 
crossed the Red River at Preston, Texas, and wintered 
in Hill and Bosque county. In January, 1860, Mr. Hoppin 
went to Galveston, where he remained a short time, and 
then made a journey to Hill county. At this time, some 
of the preliminary steps toward secession were taken in 
the State of Texas. Wild and unfounded reports of the 
burning of villages and towns by northern men were set 
in circulation by the press ; untruthful rumors of plots to 
incite the negroes to insurrection were set afloat ; self- 
constituted vigilance committees were formed ostensibly 
to protect society, but, in reality, to further the aims 
of the subsequent rebellion; and the faithfulness with 
which the infernal work was done, may be seen in 
the fact that Texas was the fii*st to withdraw from the 
Charleston Convention. In the midst of such scenes as 
these, Mr. Hoppin found little to coincide with his own 
loyal views. But, from motives of policy, while in the 



BUSHROD E. HOPPIN. 273 

strongholds of political intrigue, he was compelled to be 
silent touching his true sympathies, until he could escape 
from the midst of traitorous plottings. Speedily closing 
up his business affairs, he returned to Illinois, and reached 
home one week before the election which elevated Mr. 
Lincoln to the Presidency. In December he moved back 
to Madison county New York. Mr. Hoppin is now inter- 
ested in farming and wool growing in Logan county, 
Illinois, pasturing his flocks on the prairies in summer, and 
buying feed for them in winter. 

In politics, he is a Republican. He was county Super- 
intendent of the Poor in 1854, but resigned when he 
removed West. In 1862, he was Assistant Assessor for 
the Twenty-second Congressional District. He was elected 
to the present House by 1750 majority. He is on the 
Committee on the Affairs of Villages. 

Mr. Hoppin is thirty-eight yeai-s of age ; is a gentleman 
of fair abilities and courteous manners ; and is a practical 
thinker. He is clear in his ideas of State and National 
policies, and honest in the expression of his views. 

35 



CHARLES S. HOYT. 



Doctor Hoyt is a, tall, well-built man, with a face 
expressive of humane feelings, and meets his associates 
and even strangers with frankness, both socially and 
officially. His birthplace is Ridgefield, Connecticut, 
where he was born June 8tb, 1822. He is of English 
ancestry, with genuine liberal opinions in his mental com- 
position. In childhood, he removed with his parents to 
this State, and settled with them in Owasco, Cayuga county, 
]STew York ; but about five years afterward he moved to 
Victory in the same county. In 1834, his father took him 
and the remainder of the family to Middlesex, Yates 
county, and continued farming, his usual avocation. 

Doctor Hoyt received an academic education. His 
tastes were not in sympathy with classical branches, but 
were more inclined to mathematics. At the age of four- 
teen, he taught school ; and for a couple of years, attended 
the Rushville Academy in the summer time, working 
on the farm at intervals, and teaching during the winter 
months. At the age of twenty-one, he began the study 
of his profession, in the office of Doctor N". "Webb, of 
Rushville, and continued his practice of teaching, a por- 
tion of the time, in order to defray some of his expenses. 
He graduated from the Geneva Medical College, in 1847, 
and located at Potter Centre, Yates county. He dis- 
charged the duties of Town Superintendent of Schools, 
during 1848. His political views were Democratic, of the 
radical school; and in 1851, the Democrats of Yates county 
elected him to the Assembly. But when the South began 
its disloyal course by an open outbreak, Doctor Hoyt 
threw off his allegiance to the Democracy, put himself 
in the van of those who helped to form the Union party in 



CHARLES S. HOYT. 275 

his county, and made himself efficient in aiding recruiting, 
and in rousing the people to a sense of their danger. 
August 11th, 1862, Doctor Hoyt was appointed Assistant 
Surgeon for the 126th Regiment, New York Volunteers, 
Colonel Sheeeill commanding ; and, the 20th of May, 
1864, was promoted to Surgeon of the 39th Regiment, 
New York Volunteers, which was formerly known as the 
old " Garibaldi Guards." While in the 126th regiment he 
was among those who were captured at Harper's Ferry, 
under Colonel Miles. At that time he was on duty at the 
post-hospital, and, after the capture, remained in the lines, 
taking care of the sick and wounded, until after the place 
was retaken by the Union army. A few days previous to 
the exchange of his regiment, he reported to it. The 
winter of 1862 and '63, was passed in the defenses around 
Washington, at Union Mills and Centreville. His regi- 
ment was attached to the Second Corps of the army of 
the Potomac, just as it was moving northward, prior to the 
battle of Gettysburgh. From that time until the army 
was mustered out of service, he witnessed every battle 
except the skirmishes of Auburn and Bristow Station, 
during the transpiration of which, he was sick at home, 
with typhoid fever. In the early part of the war, Doctor 
Hoyt was always with his regiment on the field, in time 
of action : but at the opening of the campaign in 1864, he 
was detailed to the field hospital, as executive officer, 
and was afterward the Surgeon in charge of it, and 
remained so until the close of the war, when he had the 
satisfaction of closing up its affairs. As a testimonial of 
the esteem in which he was held, the attendants of the 
hospital presented him with an elegant gold watch. Thus 
far, we have merely narrated incidents ; but it is only 
justice to Doctor Hoyt, to say that he was a universal 
favorite in the army, that he never shirked a responsibility 
no matter how unpleasant ; and what is certainly com- 



276 LIFE SKETCHES. 

mendatory, he never drank a drop of liquor, either socially 
or medicinally, while he was connected with his regiment. 
When he entered the service, the children of his village 
presented him with a sash and sword, which he had the 
pleasure of bringing back with him, after the struggle 
was over. 

In the Assembly, Doctor Hoyt, with others of his pro- 
fession, serves on the Committees on Public Health and 
Medical Colleges and Societies, and is furthermore Chair- 
man of the Committee on State Charitable Institutions. 



WILLIAM E. HUNT. 



Mr. Hunt is a resident of Otto, Cattaraugus county, 
New York, which was named after Jacob S. Otto, Agent 
of the Holland Land Company. He is of New England 
parentage, his parents having moved from Vermont to 
Perrysburgh, New York, when he was ten years old. 
Until he was eighteen, he was an attendant on the common 
schools ; and then finished his school career, by two terms 
at the Fredonia Academy. During the following nine or 
ten years, he assumed the charge of his mother's farm — 
his father having died when his son was sixteen — and 
accumulated about eight hundred dollars for himself. 
Wishing a change, he left the farm, and went to Otto, 
where he has remained ever since, and invested his little 
capital in mercantile trade. Little by little, his gains 
increased, until he gathered to himself a comfortable com- 
petence, and extended his trade to a larger scale. In his 
transactions, he is cautious, preferring to take no hasty 
step, rather than to lose by a blind venture where flatter- 
ing inducements give promise of great gains. 



WILLIAM E. HUNT. 277 

At first a Whig, lie was subsequently induced to join 
the American party, when Mr. Ullman ran for Governor ; 
but, finding himself mistaken as to the objects of the 
leaders, he left that organization, at the end of three 
weeks, completely satisfied that " Sam " was " not himself 
at all." Since then, he has been a Republican, unwavering 
and influential ; and, during the war, he gave efficacy to 
his opinions by devoting his attention to the procuring of 
volunteers, and the raising and disbursing of bounty 
funds, of which he had full charge in his town. 

Besides holding other town offices, Mr. Hunt has been 
Supervisor of Otto, from 1859 to the present time, with 
the exception of one year. His majority for the Assembly 
was eleven hundred and sixty. Not aspiring to great 
political power, he, nevertheless, is a man who will not 
shrink from labors, however onerous, whenever their con- 
summation shall be for the welfare of the State. He is 
faithful to the local necessities of his district, and thus far 
has carried through a bill providing for three new streets 
in the village of Waverly. 



JAMES IRVING. 



Mr. Irving represents the Sixteenth Assembly District 
of New York, in which city lie was born, on the 6th of 
July, 1821. He belongs to a " Scotch-Irish " family, and 
his father emigrated from Londonderry, in the north 
of Ireland, in 1808. His mother was a native of this 
country. 

Mr. Irving was a pupil, during boyhood, in several 
private schools, also attending several seasons at the 
public and high schools. He was a bold lad, active, fond 
of adventure, and, true to his Scotch blood, always 
regardful of business. Leaving school, he went into the 
employment of the noted " Chris. Guire," in Washing- 
ton Market, remaining with him ten years, and sustaining 
a good reputation for industry and fidelity. In 1S47, he 
engaged a market-stand, and set up in business on his 
own account. He speedily became a leading man among 
the butchers of New York, buying and selling, on the 
average, one hundred head of cattle a Aveek, for sixteen 
years. His sagacity in making purchases was unrivaled. 
He seldom varied five pounds from a correct estimate of 
the weight of an animal. This and his great industry 
soon secured his prosperity, and, in 1857, he had accumu- 
lated the handsome fortune of $400,000. He held large 
contracts for supplying the institutions on Ward's and 
Blackwell's Island, and also obtained valuable contracts 
for supplies for the army and navy. But the fluctuating 
prices of 1857 seriously affected him, and half of his 
property was swallowed up by the disasters of that year. 
He continued in business, however, till 1863. 

In 1847, Mr. Irving was married to Miss Hannah 
Leonard, a sister of the present well-known Inspector 



JAMES IRVING. 279 

of the Metropolitan Police. The mother of Mrs. Irving 
was a Roman Catholic, a woman of superior intellect 
and of strictly conscientious principles, and. carefully 
instructed her children in religious duties. Mrs. Irving 
admirably displays the effect of her early culture, in her 
careful, maternal supervision of the conduct and education 
of her own children, six in number. In these matters, she 
has the full concurrence of her husband, who, professing 
no religious faith himself, is liberal to all who do. 

Mr. Irving has been for many years actively interested 
in politics, belonging to the Tammany wing of the Demo- 
cratic party. Although several times in the field as a 
candidate, he was never regularly nominated, and always 
was obliged to encounter a powerful combination of the 
factions against him. It is his boast, however, that he 
has always received a higher vote than the opposing 
Democratic candidate. In 1865, he was a candidate for 
Alderman in the Fourteenth District, receiving double 
the vote of the regular Democratic candidate, although 
defeated by Mr. Joseph B. Varnum, Republican, by a 
small majority. Last fall, he was an independent candi- 
date for the Assembly, against Michael N". Salmon, and 
Henry Beeny, Republican, and received a plurality of 
sixteen. Although he is in a place not familiar to him 
from past associations, he is generally in his seat during 
the session, and gives the most careful attention to the 
business under consideration. 



JOHN C. JACOBS. 



John C. Jacobs, representative of the Ninth District 
of Kings county, was horn on the 16th of December, 
1838, and is, consequently, in the 29th year of his age. 
His father was born in Vermont, and his mother in Penn- 
sylvania, and in Lancaster county, of the latter State, the 
subject of this sketch first saw the light. The paternal 
ancestors of Mr. Jacobs, were of the old New England 
revolutionary stock, and several of them participated in 
the struggle for independence ; the maternal side were of 
German origin, one of them having held a high position 
under Frederick the Great, of Prussia. 

When Mr. Jacobs was quite young, his parents removed 
to the city of Brooklyn, where, with the exception of a 
year, he has since resided. At an early age, he went to 
a select school, and was progressing rapidly, when his 
family removed to Philadelphia, which broke in upon 
his educational progress; and from his twelfth year, it 
may be said, that his school house studies ended. Return- 
ing to Brooklyn, he entered a lawyer's office, but growing 
dissatisfied with the day labor there laid out for him, 
sought and obtained a place in the large printing estab- 
lishment of John A. Gray & Co., in New York. Here, 
as copy holder, he became acquainted with many news- 
paper men of prominence — their journals being issued 
from the establishment — and soon cultivated a taste for 
the profession of a journalist. When eighteen years of 
age, he commenced newspaper life as- a Reporter on the 
New York Express, and rapidly advanced, until he had 
charge of the political news columns. In 1860, he became 
the correspondent of the same paper, in Albany, remaining 
with it until 1865, when in the same capacity, he repre- 



JOHN C. JACOBS. 281 

sented the New York World. In 1862, Mr. Jacobs 
volunteered to accompany McClellan's army on its 
famous Peninsular campaign, as a correspondent, and, 
becoming attached to the 1st New York Volunteers, then 
in Kearney's Division, he had a chance to see, and partici- 
pate in, some of the hardest fighting of the war. His 
account of the evacuation of Harrison's Landing, and the 
march to Yorktown, published in the Express, was exten- 
sively copied by the press, throughout the country. 

Mr. Jacobs began his political life early. In the cam- 
paign of 1850, though but a boy, he was active in the 
opposition to Fremont's election, and in 1860, was well 
known in Brooklyn, as a leader among the young men who 
combined against the Lincoln ticket. In 1863, he was 
nominated by the Democrats for Assembly, John C. Perry 
being the Republican candidate, Theophilus C. Callicot 
and an independent Democrat, also running. This split 
defeated him. In 1S65, he also ran, being again defeated 
by William W. Goodrich, after a contest of great 
severity. Mr. Jacobs' friends insisted that he should 
again run in 1866, and the Democratic convention nomi- 
nated him by acclamation. The Republicans made every 
effort to defeat him, but this time he won by a majority 
of nearly nine hundred. 

In the House, Mr. Jacobs has devoted most of his time 
to local matters, except in urging the famous bill relative to 
prostitution, which has attracted so much attention. He 
serves on the Committee on Public Printing, and on that 
of Colleges, Academies and Common Schools. 

Mr. Jacobs is a liberal-minded man, who is generous 
both to friend and foe. He never forgets a kindness, and 
usually manages, in a delicate manner, to repay it in ten- 
fold proportion. He has nothing of " flash " and " paste " 
in his mental composition; but on the contrary, readily 
discriminates, in his actions, between humbug and truth. 
36 



FREDERICK JULIAND. 



Mr. Juliand was born in Greene, Chenango county, 
New York (his present residence), October 9th, 1806, 
being the youngest son of Captain Joseph Juliand, a 
native of Lyons, France, who emigrated to this country 
during the stormy times of the French Revolution, and 
settled in Greene, in 1798 (a town purchased by the State 
from the Oneida and Tuscarora Indians, in 1785, and 
named in honor of General Nathaniel Greene). His 
was one of eight or ten French families who were the 
first white settlers of that vicinity. Among the incidents 
of their pioneer life they boast of a visit from the cele- 
brated French Statesman Talleyrand. 

The boyhood days of Frederick Juliand were spent 
on his father's farm, he being the recipient of such privi- 
leges as the common schools of that day afforded. In his 
more advanced youth he received academic advantages 
at Oxford in his own county, and at Utica. 

Having served an apprenticeship as merchant's clerk, he 
embarked in the mercantile business, in his native town, 
which he successfully prosecuted for upward of twenty- 
five years, retiring from active pursuits, with a handsome 
competency, in 18G0. 

From his youth upward he has taken an interest in the 
political issues before the country. He was a staunch 
Whig in the clays of that party, and at its dissolution 
became an equally ardent Republican, his opinions and 
advice having great weight in the locality where he was 
best known. He has twice been a member of the Union 
State Central Committee, and has held several offices of 
trust, in all of which he has served faithfully, and Avon a 
reputation for purity of purpose, dignity of character, 



FREDERICK JULIAND. 283 

ability and enterprise. He was Postmaster under Har- 
rison and Tyler ; is one of the incorporators for locating 
the Soldiers' Home, and is one of the Trustees of the 
Inebriate Asylum, at Binghamton. He was a member of 
Assembly in 1856, serving upon the Committee on Banks, 
and was State Senator from the Twenty-third District, 
comprising the counties of Chenango, Madison and Cort- 
land, in 1864 and '65, being chosen by a majority of 
5,459. During this service, he was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Public Printing, and a member of the Committees 
on Banks, Roads and Bridges, and Poor Laws. He earned 
considerable distinction as Senator, acquiring a name for 
exercising careful and comprehensive judgment, upon all 
matters of legislation, and for steadfastly advocating 
economy in conducting the affairs of the State. Standing 
in the foremost ranks of those whose honesty and firmness 
could be relied upon, his career as a Senator was without 
a blemish. Among the important questions settled by 
the Legislature while he was in the Senate, was that of the 
Chenango Canal extension. This measure, was, through 
the immediate supervision and active exertions of Senator 
Juliand, put into practical effect, and by virtue of the 
law passed, mainly by his influence, is noAV near its com- 
pletion. The speech made by Mr. Juliand, in its behalf 
before the Committee of the whole Senate, displayed 
careful research and wise judgment. 

Mr. Juliajtd was an effective supporter of the late war, 
contributing liberally from his time and means to sustain 
the Union. He was one of the Committee appointed 
by the Governor to raise recruits, and performed valuable 
service in that behalf. His libei*ality toward the families 
of absent soldiers, has made his name familiarly welcome 
at many a lonely fireside. 

In the summer of 1864, the town of Greene, had occa- 
sion to forward funds to an agent at Newbern, North 



284 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Carolina, who was there endeavoring to enlist men to fill 
their quota. Much against his will Mr. Juliand was 
induced to undertake the task. He started via Washing- 
ton and Norfolk, taking the steamer Fawn at- the latter 
place for Ronoake Island, via the Dismal Swamp Canal. 
When about 150 miles from Norfolk, the steamer was 
attacked by Guerrillas, under the command of a Captain 
Hopkins. Upward of a hundred shots were fired at the 
steamer, killing and wounding nine of the little party of 
only thirty. Mr. Juliand and the remaining survivors 
were taken prisoners and robbed of all their baggage ; the 
steamer was burned, and they were compelled to march, 
the whole night, thirty miles, to Elizabeth City, where, 
after being robbed of $6,000 (a portion of the funds he 
was transporting), he and Major Jenny of Syracuse, were 
paroled, through the interference of a friend, the remainder 
of the party being marched off to a vile Southern prison, 
where it has been since ascertained more than half of 
them died horrible deaths. Mr. Juliand and his com- 
panions made their escape from rebel domain in a sail- 
boat, after being without food or shelter, for about two 
entire days. 

His recent election to the Assembly was a flattering 
expression of the esteem and regard in which he is held 
at home. The county by the recent apportionment is 
reduced to one member, and there was considerable 
strife among prominent gentlemen for the position. Mr. 
Juliand's name was not mentioned in that connection 
until the Convention which placed him in nomination had 
organized, and even then against his express desire. He 
received a unanimous nomination, and at the polls, received 
1,608 majority, the highest vote given to any candidate 
upon the ticket. 

Mr. Juliand is strictly moral and temperate in his 
habits, a worthy example and an honor to society. 



PATRICK KEADY. 






Me. Keady, the Member of Assembly from the Third 
District of Kings county, was born at Mount Equity, 
county of Roscommon, Ireland, on the 26th day of June, 
1832. His parents soon after moved to Correen, an unpre- 
tending village about four miles distant from the town of 
Ballhiasloe, where his father leased a small farm, which 
he worked for a few years, and then died. Pateick had, 
at that time, just begun to go to school ; but, being the 
oldest son, he was forced to stay at home and work 
the farm for the support of himself and his brothers 
and sisters. Finding farming unprofitable in his native 
country, he came to America, in 1851, in order to better 
his condition. Arriving here on the 17th day of March 
in that year, he lost no time in seeking employment, and 
was soon afterward bound as an apprentice to a promi- 
nent master printer, Josiah T. Smith, of Brooklyn. Mr. 
Keady could then scarcely write his own name in a 
legible manner, but, by his devotion to study in his 
leisure hours, he soon began to improve in the art of 
reading and writing. He rapidly acquired a knowledge 
of the country, and was passionately fond of newspaper 
reading. Indeed, the price of newspapers, and his cloth- 
ing and board bills, were, for a time, his only expense. 
By the advice of his employer, he practiced exact econ- 
omy, and Benjamin Feanklin himself could not have 
been more scrupulous in this respect than he was for a 
time. In a few years he was able to aid his mother, two 
brothers and one sister, who were yet in Ireland, but who 
also came to this country, shortly before Mr. Keady's time 
for service had expired. Having served his apprenticeship 
according to agreement, he was paid full journeyman's 



286 LIFE SKETCHES. 

wages by his employer, a compliment which falls to the 
lot of few apprentices, even in this country. Mr. Keady 
continued to work at his trade in New York city, where 
he pursued it for upwards of fifteen years ; he then found 
his health greatly impaired by his exhausting labors by 
day, and his studies by night. He at length concluded 
to find some other employment, and, having a taste for 
journalism, he at once commenced the study of short- 
hand writing. Having studied phonography for over a 
year, during which time he still worked at his trade, he 
sought and obtained a position as reporter on one of the 
New York daily papers. This position, we believe, he 
holds up to the present time. He has always been a 
Democrat in politics, but has never held any office before. 
He was opposed during the campaign by the regular 
Republican candidate, and by a prominent Democrat 
also ; but he defeated both by a plurality of over fifteen 
hundred votes. Whatever Mr. Keady knows — and he is 
a gentleman of no little intelligence — is the result of close 
study under unfavorable circumstances. He still devotes 
his leisure hours to study, is temperate in his habits, and 
is refined in his deportment. 



JAMES W. KIMBALL. 



Mr. Kimball is a native of Lawrence, St. Lawrence 
county, New York, where he was born, June 25th, 1825. 
His homestead was of the most primitive kind — a log 
house, covered with ash bark, the logs having been cut 
and peeled by the hands of his father and mother. The 
house was built and covered in one day, five families, 
including men and women (being all of the inhabitants 
within a circle of two miles), participating in its erection. 
They afterward sat down to a delicious supper, consisting, 
in part, of the flesh of black bears, raccoons and venison, 
which was to be had in abundance, at that period. Mr. 
Kimball spent his boyhood, at home, participating in 
the general labors of a backwoods life. When he was 
seventeen, he went to the village of Potsdam, and 
attended the academy one term, working night and morn- 
ing for his board. He then worked six months on a farm 
for wages, and earned a sum of money sufficient to pay 
what debts he had incurred while at Potsdam. Being 
anxious to add still more to his stock of knowledge, Mr. 
Kimball entered the academy at Fort Covington, James 
C. Spencek being Principal, and remained there a couple 
of terms. During the winters of 1844 and 1845, laying 
aside his books as a student, he mounted the platform as a 
district school teacher. Having met Avith the usual num- 
ber of successes and defeats in attempting to develope and 
educate the young minds under his care, he abandoned 
that avocation, and, in the spring of 1845, accepted a 
clerkship in Fort Covington, at a salary of six dollars 
a month ; his compensation was yearly increased, until 
1851, at which time he received three hundred and fifty 
dollars per annum. Sometime during that year, Mr. Kim- 



288 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ball left his employers, with seven hundred and twenty- 
five dollars in his pocket, the savings from his earnings. 
In May, 1852, he began business on his own account, in a 
small way. There were many discouraging aspects 
surrounding him ; his funds were limited ; his former 
employers, with a cash capital of $50,000, were inimical 
toward his project ; and his credit was circumscribed : 
but, by perseverance, he accumulated property, and, in 
1863, closed his business, and found, in his favor, a cash 
balance of $40,000. 

Mr. Kimball voted with the Democrats for the first 
time, in 1846, and continued to do so, until 1856, when he 
became a Republican, subsequently representing his town 
as Supervisor, for five successive years, and in the years 
1864 and '65, serving as Chairman of the Board. During 
the last four years, he has been one of the Commissioners 
of Excise in his county. This is his third term in the 
Assembly, to which he has been eleeted, each time, by a 
large majority. He is on the Committee on Federal Rela- 
tions, and is Chairman of the Committee on State Prisons. 



JACOB LEFEVER. 



Although a comparatively young man, Mr. Lefever 
lias repeatedly been elevated to places of honor and trust, 
by the people of his town and district. In 1861, he was 
chosen Supervisor of New Paltz, one of the wealthiest 
towns in Ulster county, and was reelected to the same 
office, the following year. In 1862, he was nominated for 
the Assembly ; and, in a district which gave Horatio 
Seymour fifty-one majority, he was elected by a majority 
of one hundred and ninety-nine, over ex-Sheriff Griffiths, 
one of the most popular Democrats in the county. 
Important consequences resulted to the State and Nation 
from his election, in this manner, and at this time. His 
appearance in the Assembly, as will be remembered, tied 
that body politically, and finally led to the election of Mr. 
Callicot, as Speaker, which gave the control of both 
branches of the Legislature to the Union party. And out 
of this grew the election of Governor Morgan to the 
United States Senate, and the consequences which have 
resulted to the country from his presence there. 

His course in the Legislature of 1863, was so satisfac- 
tory to his constituents, that he was returned, in 1864, and 
again, in 1865, by increased majorities. The nomination 
for the session of 1866 was tendered him; but, owing to 
pi*essing business engagements, he declined to be a candi- 
date. His friends, however, who knew him as a tried and 
true representative, would not consent to his remaining in 
retirement for another year, and they insisted on his 
accepting a nomination for the present term. He did not 
feel at liberty to again refuse ; and, although the district 
is nearly equally divided, politically, and his opponent in 
the canvass was a young and active Democrat, he was 
37 



290 LIFE SKETCHES. 

elected by a majority of three hundred and eighty-four, 
running largely ahead of his ticket. 

Mr. Lefever was born in the town of New Paltz, 
Ulster county, on the 20th of April, 1831. His ancestors 
were French Huguenots, who were compelled to leave 
their native land on account of religious persecution, and 
who settled in this country, about the year 1680. He now 
owns and resides on a portion of the land purchased of the 
savages by them, and afterwards granted to them, by 
letters patent from the English government. There, in the 
beautiful and fertile valley of the " AValkill," a few miles 
west of the Hudson River, and in one of the finest agri- 
cultural districts in the State, Mr. Lefever enjoys the 
pleasant and independent life of the American farmer. 
Liberally educated at the New Paltz Academy and 
Amenia Seminary, he is enabled to cultivate his broad 
acres intelligently, and with profit to himself. 

Mr. Lefever has been identified with the Republican 
party since its organization. An active and efficient 
worker, with great personal popularity, he combines more 
political strength than almost any other man in the 
district. As a legislator, his course has been such as to 
command respect ; and he has the reputation of being an 
industrious and capable member. 



DEWITT C. LITTLEJOHN. 



The subject of this sketch was born in 1818, in the 
town of Bridgewater, Oneida county, New York. Of his 
early years the writer of this has little knowledge beyond 
the fact that he passed creditably through such schools 
as the country then afforded, and pursued an academic 
course, until he was prepared to enter the Sophomore class 
in college. Instead of pursuing a collegiate course, how- 
ever, he surrendered the student's form for the desk of the 
counting-room, and his life, so far, has been devoted 
mainly to commercial pursuits. 

In 1839, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Littlejohn went 
to Oswego, then a growing village of but five thousand 
inhabitants, taking with him vigor, integrity of charac- 
ter, perseverance and shrewd business tact — characteristics 
which have adhered to him through life. His removal to 
Oswego was for the purpose of entering into business 
relations with the late Hon. Henry Fitzhugh. Though 
not the pioneers of the lake trade, the energy of this firm 
did much toward developing and bringing into existence 
that immense internal commerce with the West, by the 
way of the lakes, which is among the wonders of modern 
times. 

Mr. Littlejohn has always taken an active interest in 
the prosperity and growth of his city. This activity was 
early marked by the people among whom he had made 
his home ; he was elected, while still a " new comer," a 
Trustee of Oswego Village, and was one of the first 
Mayors when the village became a city. 

In the midst of active habits and pressing business 
relations, politics for him had few allurements. And, 
indeed, it will be found that whenever he has taken office, 



292 LIFE SKETCHES. 

it has been for the opportunity it afforded for the accom- 
plishment of some important public end. In the early 
classification of the political parties of his day, Mr. Lit- 
tlejohn was a " Free Soil " or Anti-slavery Whig ; 
and he has always hated slavery with the full inten- 
sity of his nature. While many of the prominent men 
of his party with whom he was, in those days, on 
intimate terms, embraced "Conservative" views and 
finally gravitated into the Pro-slavery party, he stood 
by his avowed and early convictions, and without doubt 
exerted no little influence in moulding the Radical sen- 
timent which now characterizes his district and county. 
When the Whig party was shipwrecked upon the rock of 
mistaken expediency, Mr. Littlejohn - was found ready to 
enter zealously into the Republican organization, and, 
from that date, he has labored to promote its distinctive 
principles and measures. In his own district and county, 
there is no other voice which has been more frequently 
heard from the rostrum, and none which the people so 
delight to hear, or which arouses them to such degrees of 
enthusiasm. It is, however, in the character of a legislator 
that Mr. Littlejohn has won the greatest distinction, and 
is now the most favorably known. 

By the State Constitution of 1846, provision was made 
for the enlargement of the Erie Canal ; but no such 
provision was made for the Oswego Canal. It is not sur- 
prising that the people of Oswego county were alarmed. 
In this emergency, in 1853, Mr. Littlejoihst was selected 
as the best man to go to the Assembly, to obtain that 
justice, in the Legislature, which had been denied in the 
Constitutional Convention. His familiarity with commer- 
cial matters brought him into immediate notice, in the 
Legislature, in connection with the measures for the com- 
pletion of the enlargement of the Erie Canal, then sus- 
pended for the want of means, and the enlargement of 



DE-WITT C. LITTLE JOHN. 293 

the Oswego Canal, which had not been provided for by the 
Constitutional Convention. An amendment to the Con- 
stitution was required to meet the case. Of the Committee 
of the House to effect this, Mr. Littlejohn was an active 
member, as he was also of the Joint Committee of both 
Houses, appointed to advance the same end. 

The people of the State having ratified the amendment, 
Mr. Little john, in 1854, was again elected by his district 
to assist in giving effect to the provisions of the amended 
Constitution. In this Assembly, he was placed in the 
responsible position of Chairman of the Canal Committee ; 
and, as such, he reported the measures by which the 
enlargement of the Erie Canal was completed, and pro- 
visions made for the simultaneous enlargement of the 
Oswego and Seneca and Cayuga Canals, and the locks of 
the Champlain Canal. Such was his reputation for ability 
established in the Legislature of 1854, that, having been 
reelected, on the opening of the Legislature of 1855, he 
was placed in the Speaker's chair. It was during this 
term that the memoi'able strife occurred in the reelection 
of Hon. William H. Sewaed, to the United States Senate. 
The friends of freedom, in all parts of the Union, were 
watching the result with great anxiety. The strife was 
fierce and acrimonious. Mr. Littlejohn threw himself 
into the contest with his well-known strength of purpose. 
It was conceded that his individual efforts turned the scale, 
and William H. Sewaed, in that critical period, when 
public opinion w r as just beginning to be aroused to the 
dangerous encroachments of the slave power, was selected 
as the leader of the cause in the United States Senate. 
Mr. Littlejohn was held responsible for the result. 
Nowhere was the feeling more vindictive than in his own 
city. The anti-slavery sentiment, however, was no less 
fully aroused. His friends rallied to his support, and his 
course was most emphatically indorsed by his triumphant 



294 LIFE SKETCHES. 

election to the office of Mayor of Oswego, after one of the 
most violently contested canvasses which that city has 
ever experienced. 

Mr. Littlejohn was again elected in 1857, '59, '60, and 
'61, in each of which years, he, with little opposition, occu- 
pied the Speaker's chair. Each of these sessions had its 
particular work, in which Mr. Little john took a leading 
part ; and during these years in the Assembly, he estab- 
lished a reputation as an eloquent debater, and an ability 
as a parliamentarian and legislator, which has never been 
excelled by any other citizen of this State. As a presiding 
officer, he has been particularly popular, and as such, he 
has had few equals. 

Mr. Littlejohn labored zealously for the election of 
Fkemont, in 1856, and Lincoln, in 1860. The estimation 
in which his services were held at Washington, may be 
judged from the fact, that on the accession of Mr. Lincoln 
to the Presidency, he appointed Mr. Littlejohn to the 
highly responsible and lucrative office of United States 
Consul at Liverpool, a position which he promptly declined, 
not desiring to leave the country, at a time when the gov- 
ernment was liable to need the services of its citizens. 

In 1862, it will be remembered, there came a time of 
general apathy and discouragement in regard to the war. 
The President issued calls for six hundred thousand fresh 
troops, and this levy required from Oswego county, two 
full regiments, in addition to the two already in the field. 
The Colonelcy of a regiment was urged upon Mr. Little- 
john, by the War Committee of the county. Although 
in no sense a military man, such was the urgency of the 
case, that he did not hesitate, and, in ten days from the time 
he accepted the appointment, he raised the 110th regiment. 
In August, Colonel Littlejohn moved his regiment to 
Baltimore, where it was ordered into a camp of instruction, 
under Major-General Wool. His command remained in 



DEWITT C. LITTLE JOHN". 295 

this camp, until November, when it was designated as a 
portion of the great expedition to New Orleans, under 
Major-General Banks ; and in that month, Colonel Little- 
john and his regiment went on board the steamship Erics- 
son, Avhich was placed under his command for the voyage. 
The expedition consisted of some twenty or thirty steam- 
ships, formed in two lines, and Colonel Littlejohn was 
ordered to place the Ericsson in the rear of one of the 
lines, to succor any of the vessels which might be disabled. 
The line of sailing was soon broken by a storm which 
came up with great violence and dispersed the fleet. The 
propeller Thames, with the 114th Regiment, New York 
Volunteers, on board, became disabled, and the Ericsson 
took her in tow. In the fury of the storm, the task of 
saving the vessel, became not only difficult, but extremely 
perilous. Twice the hawsers parted, and twice the two 
steamships collided, at the imminent risk of sinking both. 
For forty-eight hours, Colonel Littlejohn never left the 
deck of the Ericsson, giving directions for the safety of 
the steamers. The result was, that the Ericsson towed 
the Thames into Port Royal, with every man on board 
saved. Colonel Littlejohn's regiment went into camp at 
Carrolton, near New Orleans, in December, 1862. It was 
under the command of General Banks, during his adminis- 
tration of the affairs of the Gulf, doing admirable duty at 
the memorable siege of Port Hudson, and elsewhere ; and, 
when much reduced, was finally ordered to Fort Jefferson, 
Tortugas Islands, for guard duty, where it was finally dis- 
charged, at the close of the war. 

In November, 1802, while with his regiment, Colonel 
Littlejohn was elected a representative to the Thirty- 
eighth Congress. Before the close of the Thirty-seventh 
Congress, that body adopted a resolution, that, under the 
constitution, no member could hold a commission in 
the army, and that for a member to accept and hold such 



296 LIFE SKETCHES. 

a commission, would vacate his seat. Mr. Littlejohn, 
therefore, just before the 4th of March, 1863, resigned his 
commission, that there might be no question of his eligi- 
bility to his seat. His health was failing, and his sub- 
sequent dangerous and protracted sickness, sufficiently 
proves, that by a continuance in the service, his life would 
have been the penalty. But he has always justified his 
action solely upon the ground of duty to his government, 
and to the cause, the success of which he had no right 
to imperil. No commander was ever more popular with 
his regiment than was Colonel Littlejohn, as no one ever 
looked more closely after the wants and welfare of his men. 
Mr. Littlejohn was present at the organization of the 
Thirty-eighth Congress, but was immediately taken sick, 
and was detained for five months. Returning to his seat 
in his feeble state of health, he signalized his first term by 
maturing and procuring the passage of a law which 
appropriated $300,000 to the preservation of the Lake 
Harbors, after Congress had avowed its purpose to appro- 
priate no moneys, except for war purposes. Rarely, 
indeed, has a new member been more honorably noticed 
in the organization of the House, than was Mr. Little- 
john. He held a prominent position on the Commit- 
tee on the Rules of the House, was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Pensions, second on Roads and Canals, and held 
an important place on the Committee on Ways and Means. 
During the short term, his health having improved, Mr. 
Littlejohn brought forward his measure for the construc- 
tion of a ship canal around the Falls of Niagara. This 
measure he carried through the House, and at one time 
there seemed little doubt that it would also pass the 
Senate. In the settlement of the other great questions 
which came up for consideration in the Thirty-eighth 
Congress, Mr. Littlejohn took an active part. He sus- 
tained the amendment to the Constitution of the United 



DEWITT C. LITTLE JOHN. 297 

States, which abolished slavery. He was a warm friend 
of the policy of President Lincoln, at that time the 
subject of severe criticism on the part of even some pro- 
minent members of the Republican organization. Mr. 
Littlejohn had faith in his prudence, his wisdom and 
his patriotism, and frequently, his eloquent voice rang 
out in defense of the Administration. It will be remem- 
bered, that among the closing scenes of the Thirty-eighth 
Congress, was a spirited discussion upon the policy of the 
President, between the late Hon. Henky Wintek Davis 
and Mr. Littlejohn. 

In the winter of 1866, Mr. Littlejohn again became a 
Member of the Assembly of this State. He was Chairman 
of the Committee on Commerce and Navigation, Chair- 
man of the Special Committee to Revise the Rules of the 
House, Chairman of the Select Committee on Census and 
Apportionment, second on the Committee on Canals, 
and, after the House had been in session a few weeks, was 
elected Speaker pro tern., and during much of the time 
occupied the Chair. The crowning triumph of the ses- 
sion, however, and that which most signalized his ability 
and power as a legislator, was the passage, by the House, 
of a bill chartering a company to construct the Niagara 
Ship Canal. The passage of this bill, under the circum- 
stances attending it, was regarded the greatest personal 
triumph ever achieved in the Legislature of the State. 
There were conditions attached to the bill by the Senate, 
however, which rendered it inoperative. 

At the close of the session, Mr. Littlejohn was greeted 
with a public reception by his constituents, such as is 
seldom awarded a public servant. In token of their appre- 
ciation of his labors, he was presented with a silver Dinner 
Service, the cost of which was $4,500. At the proper 
time, he was unanimously elected to the Legislature of 
1867, by the people of his district. 
38 



298 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. Littlejohn is a member of the Board of Trade, 
of the city of Oswego, has been at times its presiding 
officer, and headed its delegation in the Commercial Con- 
vention, held in Detroit, in 1864, composed of the leading 
commercial minds of the nation, and it is not too much to 
say that he was one of the leading spirits of that body. 

During the summer of 1865, a project originated in 
some of the inland counties of the State, to construct 
a railroad from Lake Ontario to the Hudson River, oppo- 
site New York. A company was organized, under the 
name of the " Midland Railroad Company," and in Feb- 
ruary, 1866, Mr. Littlejohn was elected its President. 
During the summer following, he, in concert with other 
Directors, spent much time in awakening an interest in its 
construction, along the line of the projected road, with 
the most nattering promise of final success. 

In personelle, Mr. Little.tohn is tall, straight, and some- 
what spare. He has a piercing eye, and upon the floor, 
his voice and manner, in any public assemblage, always 
attract the most lively interest. In habits, he is strictly 
temperate, and in personal appearance and dress, plain and 
unassuming. His private life, in all respects, is unques- 
tionable, and few men have a greater power of winning 
and establishing strong personal friendships. 



HOMER N. LOCKWOOD. 



Mr. Lockwood has an exceedingly genial face and a 
uniformly polite manner which is never fitful and impa- 
tient. The man who knows how to approach him to-day, 
can be confident that he will find the same way of access 
to-morrow. There are some men in the world, who, under 
the instigations both of private pique and public aggrava- 
tions, let fly a shower of venomous words in the most 
indiscriminate manner, just as some blind hedgehog dis- 
charges his arrows ; but Mr. Lockwood has a happy way 
of never letting one know when he is hit, and never vent- 
ing spleen on those with whom he associates. 

He was born in Victory, Cayuga county, New York, 
June 23d, 1833. He is a descendant of the family of 
Lockwoods that first settled in this country, in 1630, 
having emigrated from Northamptonshire, England. 

In the year 1817, the parents of Mr. Lockwood moved 
from Connecticut to their new home in Victory. After 
passing a laborious and useful life of nearly half a century 
on the same farm, they celebrated their fiftieth marriage 
anniversary, or "golden wedding," the 2d of October, 1863. 

Mr. Lockwood is the youngest of six children. After 
a liberal academical education, at F alley Seminary, he 
evinced* a desire for travel, and as a preliminary step for 
carrying out his jxirposes in that direction, consummated 
an engagement with J. H. Coltost & Co., of New York, 
as agent for their geographical works. Being soon after 
promoted to General Agent, he finally entered into a 
limited partnership. The first year of his partnership, 
1853, he spent in South Carolina; during the next winter, 
he was in Kentucky, superintending his employes who 
were compiling a large map of that State ; and during 



300 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the three following years, he was similarly employed in 
Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, having his principal 
offices in Memphis and New Orleans. In the Spring of 
1859, Mr. Lockwood conceived the idea of extending his 
business to the West Indies, and accordingly established 
an office in Havana. An arrangement was readily made 
by him with competent Spanish civil engineers, to carry 
out the plan of publishing a detailed topographical plan 
of the Island of Cuba, under the patronage of the Spanish 
government. This large undertaking consumed nearly five 
years. The winter months were spent by him, in traveling 
over the island, and in supervising and arranging informa- 
tion received at his office in Havana. Of course the 
tropical summers were so hot as to prevent him from 
performing any great amount of active labor, during their 
continuance ; on such occasions he was accustomed to 
make a hegira to the States. Mr. Lockwood with grati- 
fying success conducted a similar enterprise, during 18G3 
and 1864, in the Island of Porto Rico. In the course of 
business he visited the Islands of St. Thomas, Santa Cruz, 
the Bahamas, the Bermudas and many other West India 
Islands. We should have to appropriate a large share of 
this volume, were we to give a description of his eventful 
life in the tropics. We leave to himself the narration of 
his blood-chilling adventures among the mountain passes, 
of the long, dreamy hours spent under a southern evening 
sky, and, quien sabe, of the soft glances which none but 
Spanish senoritas know how to give. Speaking the Span- 
ish language almost as well as his mother tongue, during 
the dark days of our civil war, his voice was often heard, 
defending the Union, and nourishing the almost extinct 
spark of sympathy among the faithless foreigners. 

After Mr. LocKwood's return to his native home in 
1865, he was elected to the Assembly from the First Dis- 
trict of Cayuga county; in the Legislature of 1866, he 



JARVIS LORD. 301 

served on the Committees on the Manufacture of Salt, 
Engrossed Bills, and Public Printing, and, during the last 
half of the session, was Chairman of the last mentioned 
Committee. He was also one of the important Committee 
of five to arrange the priority of business before the 
House. During this session he is serving on the Commit- 
tees on Public Printing, State Prisons and Manufacture of 
Salt ; he is Chairman of the latter. 

Mr. Lockwood was the only bachelor member during 
the last session who had the courage to break through the 
ranks and join the order of Benedicts, which event was 
celebrated the 13th of February, 1866. 

At the last election Mr. Lockwood was reelected to the 
Assembly by a majority of 1,365, the largest ever given 
in his disti'ict. He ranks well among his fellow legisla- 
tors, and possesses the high esteem of his acquaintances. 



JARVIS LORD, 



Mr. Lord, the Member for the First District of Monroe 
county, was born at Ballston, Saratoga county, February 
10th, 1816. He is in the prime of life, and as vigorous as 
he was at twenty-five ; of good physical proportions, and 
an excellent constitution, and a temperament adapted to 
both mental and physical endurance ; he has been favored 
with excellent health, and seldom tires by active labor. 

Mr. Lord was the son of poor parents, and had no 
other educational advantages than those afforded by the 
common schools in the days of his boyhood. He availed- 
himself of these, however, so far as to acquire a tolerable 
knowledge of those branches which were to be most 
essential to him in business life. He adopted the avoca- 
tion of a farmer, and, though he has most of the time had 



302 LIFE SKETCHES. 

large interests in other pursuits, he has made the farm his 
home, and has taken a pride in the culture of the soil. 
He has resided, for twenty-five years or more, at Pitts- 
ford, seven miles from Rochester, and has there one of 
the best cultivated and most productive farms in Monroe 
county. He takes delight in the cultivation of fruit, and 
the raising of stock, particularly horses, of which he is a 
great admirer. 

Mr. Lord has always been a Democrat of the Jacksox 
and Wright school. Devoted to the Union, he warmly 
espoused the Federal cause at the beginning of the rebel- 
lion, and gave freely to promote the national interests, 
and, it is said, did more than any other man in his town 
to keep the calls for men filled, and to help the soldiers in 
the field and at home. He has enjoyed a personal popu- 
larity at home, equaled by few men. When nominated 
for office, his neighbors support him with enthusiasm. 
He was elected to the Assembly, in 1858, on the Dem- 
ocratic ticket, when the District went Republican by 
several hundreds. He was elected again in 1866, by a 
majority of fifteen over a strong opponent, when the 
District gave Governor Fe:nton six hundred majority. 
He has, once or more, served as Supervisor. 

Mr. Lord has been engaged for many years in building 
canals in this State, and he enjoys a high reputation as a 
contractor. He is now President of the Farmers' and 
Mechanics' National Bank of Rochester, an old and reli- 
able institution. As a citizen, Mr. Lord has a spotless 
character, and, as a business man, his reputation is excel- 
lent all over Central and Western New York. 

Mr. Lord does not claim to be an orator; his attention 
has never been bestowed on the embellishments of rhetoric 
and elocution. Whenever he has an opinion to utter, he 
delivers it point blank, and usually with very good aim. 
His shrewdness and plain sense are his leading character- 



JOHN MAXWELL. 303 

istics. At the opening of the present Legislature, his 
party presented him as the Democratic candidate for 
Speaker, and sustained him by an unbroken vote ; but 
the Republican majority in the House accomplished the 
election of Mr. Pitts. 



JOHN MAXWELL. 



Me. Maxwell who represents the First Assembly Dis- 
trict of Ulster county, was born in the year 1818, in the 
county of Tyrone, Ireland. His father Thomas Maxwell, 
served under the gallant leader Sir John" Mooee, and 
afterward under Wellington, the " Iron Duke." He par- 
ticipated in the principal battles and campaigns of those 
heroic leaders. At Waterloo, he was in the thickest of 
the conflict, and was an eye witness of the turning of the 
tide which swept away the eagles of France, and doomed 
Napoleon to exile. In 1828, he immigrated to this 
country, bringing with him his wife and five children, 
among whom was his son John, then a lad of ten years, 
and settled in the city of Philadelphia, where he remained 
two years, and then removed to the neighborhood of 
Saugerties, New York. Young Maxwell grew to man- 
hood, in that vicinity, entered into mercantile business, 
and also became a dealer in North River blue stone. Just 
before the opening of the late civil war, Mr. Maxwell 
retired from his former pursuits, and commenced brokerage 
in New York city. The same industry and sagaciousness 
which he had manifested in his previous enterprises were 
undiminished in this latter business ; and his efforts 
were attended with large returns of j>rofit. His political 
antecedents were Whig ; and at the organization of the 



304 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Republican party, he joined the columns which have 
since received continued accessions, and have carried the 
country through strife and bloodshed. Mr. Maxwell 
represents a district which, in 1864, gave nearly 700 
Democratic majority, but which gave him at the last 
election, a majority of one hundred and seventy-nine. 

He is a gentleman who is regarded by his acquaintances 
as a first class man, and whose social relations are untar- 
nished. Pie has a fine judgment in business matters, and in 
relation to all just purposes, is very liberal, whereas he 
decidedly condemns anything which bears the taint of 
corruption. His intimate knowledge of our inland trade 
and commerce fits him for his position on the Committee 
on Commerce and Navigation. 

Mr. Maxwell has a ruddy, jovial face, and a massive 
frame, which looks as if it could stand a great amount of 
fatigue. 



CHARLES M C KINNEY. 



Charles McKinney, the Member of Assembly from 
the Third District of Oswego county, is a native of the 
county which he represents, having been born in Redfield, 
in 1828. His parents were of New England stock, who 
settled in Redfield nearly forty years ago, being among 
the pioneers in the early settlement and development of 
that region of the State. 

Mr. McKinney was educated mostly in the common 
schools and academies in his section of the country, and, 
except when in school, his boyhood was spent in agricul- 
tural pursuits. After his majority, he was engaged six 
years in the milling business, since which time he has been 
a merchant. 

In the affairs and politics of his own town, Mr. McKin- 
ney has not been passive, as is evidenced from the positions 
conferred upon him by his fellow townsmen, whose confi- 
dence and respect he fully enjoys. He has repeatedly 
held the town offices of Inspector of Election, Town 
Clerk, Assessor, etc.; and, in 1858, he was elected to the 
office of Supervisor, to which he was again elected in 
1865 and 1866; the duties of which place he has always 
discharged to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. 

He was elected to the present Legislature by a majority 
of 1,571 votes, and represents one of the most radical 
districts of the State. He serves on the Committees on 
Towns and Counties, and Agriculture. Being without 
legislative experience, except such as is acquired in the 
local legislature of his county— the Board of Super- 
visors — he has his record yet to make. 



39 



JACOB A. MEAD 



Jacob AcKERMAisr Mead, the member from Livingston 
county, was born in Pompton, Passaic county, New- 
Jersey, on the 9th of September, 1816. His parents 
removed to Seneca county, New York, in his infancy; and 
when ten years of age, he came to Ontario county. In 
1835, he became a citizen of Mount Morris, Livingston 
county, where he has since resided. He enjoyed the usual 
opportunities for acquiring a common school education, 
and soon after settling in Mount Morris, became a mer- 
chant. In this pursuit he continued for several years, and 
afterward changed his occupation for that of a lumber 
dealer. 

He has always been active in politics. He was a Whig 
down to the formation of the Republican party; and since 
that period, he has been an unhesitating advocate of the 
principles of the latter party. From 1856 to 1859, he 
held a position in the Engineer's Department, located at 
Cuba, New York, and in 1861, he Avas appointed Superin- 
tendent of the Genesee Valley Canal, which office he held 
for a year, devoting himself with characteristic energy to 
the performance of his duties. Mr. Mead has uniformly 
favored all public measures promotive of the canal 
interests of the State. 

In 1863, he was appointed Commissioner of the Board 
of Enrollment of the Twenty-fifth Congressional District, 
and served efficiently in that capacity, until the Board, in 
common with the other similar boards throughout the 
country, was discontinued in 1865. 

By the reapportionment of the State under the census 
of 1865, the county of Livingston lost one representative 
in the lower branch of the Legislature, thus leaving it 



GEORGE W. MILLSPAUGH. 307 

with a single member, in the Assembly. In September 
last, he was nominated at the Republican county Conven- 
tion, and, although actively opposed throughout the can- 
vass by the Hon. Mr. Hendee, present Supervisor of 
Geneseo, and recently a member of the Assembly, a 
gentleman of personal popularity, and claimed by his 
friends as a Republican, (though nominated by a Demo- 
cratic Convention,) Mr. Mead was elected by*849 majority. 
He takes his seat with no little experience in the public 
service, and his habits of industry and close inquiry, have 
already fitted him for the vigilance required of him as a 
member of the Committees on Commerce and Navigation, 
and Federal Relations. 



GEORGE W. MILLSPAUGH. 



The paternal ancestors of Mr. Millspaugh emigrated 
from Holland, about the year 1700. The name was origi- 
nally spelled Meltzbach, but euphonic changes have toned 
it down to its present mode of spelling. His maternal 
grandfather, John Cameron, was a Scotchman, who, in 
1757, then a lad of sixteen, residing near Edinburgh, 
was impressed into the English service. He fought with 
Wolfe at the taking of Quebec, and was subsequently a 
soldier in the American army during the Revolution. At 
the close of that struggle, he held a Lieutenant's com- 
mission. 

Mr. Millspaugh, until sixteeen years old, attended the 
district school. He then availed himself of the educa- 
tional benefits afforded by the Montgomery Academy. 
While in the pursuit of his studies at that institution, he 
also acquired no little experience in teaching, thus bring- 



308 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ing into practice the instruction which he had received. 
When he was twenty-one years old, he began the study 
of law in the office of General Borland, a distinguished 
Democratic politician, and an able lawyer, residing at 
Montgomery, Orange county, New York. Being thrown 
somewhat upon his own efforts for his pecuniary supplies, 
he taught two yeai'S, and pursued his legal studies during 
his leisure time. After his admission to the Bar, Avhich 
transpired in February, 1850, he followed his profession 
in the town of Montgomery, until the spring of 1858 
when he removed to Goshen. While a resident of 
Montgomery, he was elected Superintendent of Common 
Schools for the period of two years, and was likewise 
Justice of the Peace four years. He has held the same 
office during seven years of his residence in the town of 
Goshen, and has been Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 
for the past five years. 

In 1865, Mr. Millspaugh was elected to the Assembly 
by the Democrats, by seventy-five majority, leading his 
ticket, and being the only Democratic candidate who was 
elected in the county. He was reelected in 1866 by a 
majority of one hundred and eighty-nine. Such was the 
popular feeling in his favor, he ran two hundred ahead of 
his ticket in his District. Mr. Millspaugh is an unosten- 
tatious man, aiming at no display, yet firm in his opinions. 
He is concise in the expression of his views, and is a cour- 
teous and manly opponent in debate. As a member of 
the last Legislature, he gained the approval of men of all 
parties by his straightforward manner in the transaction 
of business ; he ranks among the prominent Members of 
the present House. He is a member of the Committees 
on Federal Relations, and on Local General Orders. 
Mr. Millspaugh is a native of the town of Montgomery, 
New York, and has always been a resident of Orange 
county. 



CHRISTIAN MINIER. 



The Member of Assembly from the Second Assembly- 
District of Steuben county, was born in the town of Canis- 
teo, county of Steuben, New York, in the year 1818. His 
parents were natives of that county, and, at the time Mr. 
Minier was five years of age, moved to the town of Big 
Flats, in the county of Chemung, where he remained 
until his twenty-eighth year. At this time, he became a 
resident of the town of Caton, in the county of Steuben, 
of which he is now a resident. He received a common 
school education, and, during the greater portion of his 
life, has been engaged in the business of farming. He 
has held the office of Justice of the Peace in his town for 
fourteen years, and has also represented his town in the 
Board of Supervisors, at intervals, for ten years, during 
that time serving upon the most important Committees 
of that body. At the last election he was elected, in a 
contested canvass, to the office he now holds, over Morris 
Smith, Democrat, by a majority of 1885. He serves on 
the Committees on Petitions of Aliens, and Public Lands. 






ELISHA MOODY. 



Mr. Moody is the senior member of the firm of " E. 
Moody & Sons," proprietors of the Niagara Nurseries, at 
Lockport, New York, where he has been engaged in that 
business, during the last twenty-five years ; in the mean 
time, lie has employed several thousand men ; and such 
has been his fairness in dealing, no person has had cause 
to complain of Mr. Moody as an employer. In all busi- 
ness transactions he bears the reputation of being prudent 
and honest. He is a native of Unity, New Hampshire. 
His father went to Cayuga county, New York, in 1816, 
Avhere he died in 1820. Mr. Moody then went to live 
with Mr. William Hayden, near Auburn, and learned 
the trade of woolen manufacturing. In 1835, he moved 
to Michigan, and settled near the village of Allegan. 
The country in that section, was comparatively in its 
primitive state, and the wheels of civilization were just 
beginning to move. Districts now populous and wealthy, 
were then scarcely more than an unbroken wilderness ; 
and counties now powerful in business and politics, were 
in their infancy, both socially and politically. Mr. Moody 
was one of the Inspectors of the first election held in the 
county of Allegan after the organization of the State of 
Michigan ; and attended the first wedding which trans- 
pired in the county. While a resident of Allegan, he 
held town offices, and was nominated for Judge Probate, 
but he declined the honor, not being an aspirant for poli- 
tical distinction, and preferring rather to devote his time 
to his business projects which were quite important, as he 
dealt largely in lands, for three or four years. Soon after 
his return to this State, which took place in 1838, he 
opened the nursery which we have already mentioned. 



MICHAEL C. MURPHY. 311 

Mr. Moody, originally a Whig, is now a Republican of 
undoubted zeal. He was elected by the First District 
of Niagara county, by a majority of one hundred and 
twenty-seven. He is on the Committees on Agriculture 
and Roads and Bridges. As a citizen, Mr. Moody is 
irreproachable. He is esteemed by his acquaintances, 
and is counted among those who give substantial benefits 
to their localities. 



MICHAEL C. MURPHY. 



Mr. Murphy, though still young, has experienced many 
exciting adventures, and has won military distinction in 
defending his adopted country. He is a native of Kilmal- 
loek, Limerick county, Ireland, where he was born March 
7th, 1839. When about eight years of age, he came to 
America, arriving in New York city, November, 1847. 
When he reached a suitable age, he learned the printer's 
trade. At the opening of the civil Avar in this country, 
Mr. Murphy, in common with hundreds of others from the 
same avocation, enlisted in the army. April 20th, 1861, he 
was commissioned as Captain in the Ellsworth Regiment 
of Fire Zouaves. After the release of General Corcoran 
from the rebel prison, Captain Murphy resigned his com- 
mission in the Regiment of Zouaves, and joined the " Irish 
Legion," as Captain. He was promoted, January 4th, 
1863, to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 2d Regiment of 
the " Legion." He was closely identified with the move- 
ments of General Corcoran's command, until he was 
dismissed from the service by order of General Meade, 
to date from June 9th, 1864, for sending a flag of truce to 
the skirmishing line of the enemy, in an endeavor to save 



312 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the lives of one hundred and five privates and seven 
officers, who were wounded and lying between both lines. 
This took place May 24th, 1864, while he was in command 
of the advance line of the Second Division of the Second 
Army Corps. "When this dismissal was brought to the 
notice of General Grant, and the facts of the case were 
clearly presented to him, he justified the course of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Murphy, who was immediately restored to 
his rank, by order of President Lincoln. He left the 
service in March, 1865, in consequence of ill-health. He 
was a valorous officer, and a man true to his country. 

The Fenian raid upon Canada, which set the English 
Cabinet in a flutter, made the Canadians quake with sud- 
den fear, and caused her Majesty's troops to suppose that 
the time for field duty had come, will long be remembered 
as a preliminary movement which, though it failed to 
accomplish the purposes of the Irish people, nevertheless 
caused John Bull to cast an inquiring glance toward the 
Emerald Isle, and wonder if Erin was really in earnest. 
Mr. Murphy was General of that portion of the Fenian 
army, in May and June, 1866, which was concentrated at 
Malone, New York, and was intended for the assaulting 
column against Montreal. Every reader is familiar with 
the failure of that undertaking, the causes of which it 
is neither our place nor purpose to discuss. 

In November, 1866, Mr. Murphy was elected to the 
Assembly by the Democrats of the First District of the city 
of New York, which is composed of the First, Second, 
Third and Fifth Wards. His majority was 1,496. He 
was appointed on the Committee on Militia and Public 
Defense. 

He has a fine military bearing, is an agreeable gentle- 
man, and wins the good will of those with whom he comes 
in contact. 



OWEN MURPHY. 



Me. Murphy was born in the county of Monaghan, Ire- 
land, and is about thirty-two years of age. His father 
died when he was about four years old, leaving him to 
fight life's hard battle alone, and, single-handed, to achieve 
position and honor. The family immigrated to the United 
States, while he was quite young, locating in the city of 
New York. He learned the trade of tinsmith and plumber, 
and has since followed that avocation, commencing busi- 
ness for himself, in March, 1857, locating in Houston street, 
near Allen. In all his business relations, he has been very 
successful, and has attained an enviable reputation for 
uprightness and fair dealing. He served nine years in the 
old Volunteer Fire Department, being an officer for 
several years, and four successive times elected Foreman 
of Hose 16, which office he held when the paid system 
was inaugurated. He has taken a lively interest in all the 
political issues of the day. He is an unflinching Demo- 
crat ; but in the local politics of the city, he has always 
opposed the corrupt practices of the " ring," and has been 
in favor of supporting the most trustworthy men for office. 

Although Mr. Murphy is a new member, an honorable 
and responsible place on the Committee on Cities, was 
given to him, by the Speaker. 



40 



JOHN OAKEY. 



Mr. Oakey was born in Brooklyn, September 12th, 
1829. He is a lineal descendant of John Okey, one of 
Cromwell's favorite officers, and a regicide, having signed 
the death-warrant of Charles I. Upon the Restoration, 
he fled with his family to Holland, Avhere, on some specious 
pretext, he was enticed into Flanders, when he was ille- 
gally seized and forcibly taken to England, tried, convicted 
as a regicide, hung, quartered and dragged upon a hurdle. 
The proceedings on his trial can be found among the 
English State trials. 

The sons of the regicide married among the Hollanders, 
which fact accounts for the name of Oakey being found 
among those of Dutch descent, although it is of English 
origin. His descendants were among the first immigrants 
to this country. One, named Henry Okey, settled in 
Flatlands, Kings county, New York, and his descendants 
have continued their residence in the same vicinity ; the 
great-grandfather, grandfather and father of John Oakey, 
all having been born there. 

Mr. Oakey's father removed to Brooklyn, and lived there 
a number of years ; he removed to Elatbush when John 
was eight years old, and still continues to make it his 
residence. Mr. Oakey's mother was born in Litchfield, 
Connecticut, and was a descendant of the Rev. Mr. 
Hooper, who founded the city of Hartford. 

John Oakey was the seventh of nine children, and his 
father being a journeyman carpenter, all the little Oakeys 
had to " scratch for themselves " as soon as they were 
able. Fortunately, the location of Erasmus Hall Academy 
in Flatbush, gave him advantages for education superior 
to those of public schools, and at very little cost. Those 



JOHN OAKEY. 315 

opportunities were so well improved, that, when it came 
time, in his father's judgment, for him, in consideration 
of the circumstances of his family, to leave school, he was 
prepared for college ; and interested friends, united with 
his mother's solicitations, prevailed on his father to send 
him to Yale, from which he graduated in 1849. 

Upon leaving college, Mr. Oakey studied law in the 
office of the late Hon. James Humphrey, M. C, in New 
York city, during which time he supported himself, and 
was also enabled to pay off a greater portion of the 
indebtedness incurred in his education, by nightly giving 
lessons on the violin ; so that which he had cultivated in 
college as an amusement, became to him a great source of 
help. After being admitted to the Bar, he entered a law 
office as clerk, and, in a few years, became a partner in 
the same office. He still continues the practice of his 
profession in New York city. 

Mr. Oakey was a private in the noted 7th Regiment 
of New York city, National Guards, and served with it 
in the memorable campaign in the defense of Washing- 
ton, in the spring of 1861; three months, in 1862, at 
Federal Hill, Baltimore; and, in 1863, at the same place, 
and at Frederick and the Monocacy. He also served with 
the regiment, during the New York riots. 

Mr. Oakey had never been a politician, but, in Flat- 
bush, has been School Trustee several terms, Trustee of 
Erasmus Hall Academy, Justice of the Peace, &c. His 
District was deemed to be Democratic, beyond perad- 
venture, and he received the Republican nomination for 
the Assembly, in 1865, as a forlorn hope, running against 
Mr. Whitman", the Democratic candidate, who had been 
elected the previous year by a large majority. Much to 
his own surprise and that of his friends, he was elected by 
thi'ee hundred and fifty majority. It was thought, in 
1866, that he would be defeated, inasmuch as he had voted 



316 LIFE SKETCHES. 

for the Excise law, but he received the handsome majority 
of two hundred and fifty, and was the only one of the mem- 
bers of the previous House from Kings county, that was 
returned. In the Assembly, Mr. Oakey occupies one of 
the most honorable and responsible positions, having been 
designated by the Speaker to the Chairmanship of the 
Committee on Commerce and Navigation. 

Mr. Oakey, besides being possessed of superior practical 
qualifications as a working legislator, is one of the wits of 
the House, and is social, genial, affable and obliging, hav- 
ing a smile and a kind word for all. He has been recently 
promoted from a private in the ranks, to the position of 
Judge Advocate, with the rank of Colonel, on the Staff 
of Major-General Shaler, First Division, New York State 
National Guard. 



DANIEL O'REILLY. 



This gentleman has royal Irish blood in his veins, being 
a descendant of the famous O'Reillys, of the county of 
Cavan, Ireland, who wei - e Princes under the Irish mon- 
archy, and participated in the ineffectual struggles of Erin 
to keep herself an independent government. 

He was born in Cavan county, Ireland, in the year 1839. 
When very young, he left his home, without the knowl- 
edge, and, in fact, against the will of his parents, and 
came to New York city, where he obtained an education 
in the public schools. After leaving school, Mr. O'Reilly 
was employed in the manufacture of soda water, for several 
years. But being, at that time, of a restless and ven- 
turesome disposition, he embarked on an expedition to 
Nicaragua, with the late General Walker. The romance 
of his dreams was dissipated by the privations which he 



DANIEL O'REILLY. 317 

had to endure. Instead of General Walker's marching, 
with triumphant banners, to the consummation of success, 
his progress was, inch by inch, disputed, until he found 
his army dwindled down to a mere handful of men. 
After many sufferings, Mr. O'Reilly returned to New 
York. 

When the late war broke out, he enlisted in the 170th 
Regiment, New York State Volunteers, and served until 
the surrender of the Rebel forces. He participated in 
twenty-one different battles, among which were those of 
Bristow Station, Mine Run, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania Court House, North Anne River, Peters- 
burgh, Richmond, &c. After his return from the war, he 
was elected School Inspector of the Fourteenth Ward of 
New York, and acted in that capacity until an act of the 
Legislature abrogated that office. Last fall, he was nomi- 
nated, by the Mozart Democracy of the Third District, for 
Member of the Assembly, and was elected against three 
other candidates, by a plurality of four hundred and 
eighty-two. 



JOHN L. PARKER. 



The birth-place of Mr. Parker is Sempronius — now 
Moravia — Cayuga county, New York, where he was born, 
on the 25th day of March, 1825. On his mother's side, he 
is a descendant of John" Locke, whose name is familiar 
to almost every one ; and his father was of the English 
family of Parkers, of Welsh descent. 

Mr. Parker obtained his education, which was academic, 
by his oavii exertions. Conscious that the best investment 
which could be made with his time and money, was to be 
found in qualifying himself for the opportunities which 
fall in the way of every citizen, he studied diligently 
while at school, confident that, in after years, he would be 
amply repaid for his studiousness. On the completion of 
his school life, he began the study of law. In due time, 
he was admitted to practice ; and he has continued in his 
profession ever since, rising, by persevering toil, to an 
honorable place at the Bar of Cayuga county. Soon after 
Mr. Parker attained his majority, he became an office- 
holder, and he has never been out of office, since that time ; 
consequently, his life has been very closely interwoven 
with politics. Originally a Democrat, he remained so, 
until 185G, when he joined the Republican party, preferring 
to attach himself to an organization which had for its 
foundation, the enduring principles of equity, rather than 
to remain within the ranks of Hunkerism. 

Mr. Parker has natural and acquired qualifications, 
which have placed him among the most influential mem- 
bers of the House. As a parliamentarian, he has few 
superiors, and his knowledge in this regard, with his 
naturally quick intellect and intuitive shrewdness, have 
rendered him one of the best tacticians in the Assembly, 



JOHN L. PARKER. 319 

for several years. This fact caused him to be selected 
by a party caucus, in his first year (1865), to engineer 
the Metropolitan Paid Fire Department Bill through the 
House ; and he did it, although the opposition was strong 
and unscrupulous. His skill, in this respect, received a 
striking illustration, in 1867, when, in the first few weeks 
of the session, he brought to a third reading in the House, 
and passed by a unanimous vote, a bill to require the rail- 
road companies of this State to give equal freight and 
express facilities to all (a bill designed to reach the case 
of the Merchants' Union Express Company). The bill 
passed through all the stages of legislation openly, yet so 
quietly, that its presence was scarcely known before it had 
passed beyond the jurisdiction of the House. 

Mr. Parker has also eminent qualifications as a presid- 
ing officer, having the requisite knowledge, promptness 
and decision for that position. His qualifications in that 
respect caused him to be selected, in 1865, by a party 
caucus, as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, on 
the Metropolitan Health Bill, and the Buffalo Police Bill. 
In 1866, he was frequently called to take the Chair by 
Speaker Tremain. 

He is also an effective debater. In 1865, he delivered a 
speech on the Constitutional Amendment; in 1866, on the 
Health Bill, and the resolutions indorsing Congress against 
the President; and, in 1867, an impromptu argument on the 
Constitutional Amendments, all of which were deservedly 
highly praised and widely read. 

In his general course as a legislator, he has sought the 
best interests of the State, the keeping down of taxation, 
and the overthrow or crippling of monopolies. He has 
been Chairman, for two years, of the Committee on Rail- 
roads, serving in that delicate position with credit to 
himself, honor to his constituents and the true interests 
of the State. 



GEORGE J. PENFIELD. 



This gentleman was born, March 24th, 1826, in Camden, 
Oneida county, New York. He is the youngest son of 
Fowler Penfield, of English descent, who took part in 
the war of 1812, on the western frontier, and who was the 
second son of Jesse Penfield who distinguished him- 
self in the Revolutionary war, having entered the service 
at the age of seventeen. He served in the army, over 
seven years, and was in the battle of White Plains, and 
all the other memorable battles of the Revolution ; he then 
removed from the State of Connecticut to Camden, New 
York, where he lived to a good old age. 

On the maternal side, Mr. Penfield is of French and 
Holland descent, of the families bearing the names of 
DeMilt and Wormsley, that fled from the persecutions 
instituted against the Christians, having left their proj:>erty 
to be confiscated, and landed on Manhattan Island, when 
New York was but a small village. Benjamin DeMilt 
was a man of almost unbounded liberality ; he donated 
an extensive library to the Mechanics' Library of New 
York city, and appropriated a large amount of money 
to that institution. His maiden sisters bequeathed a great 
portion of their estate to benevolent institutions ; and the 
authorities of New York honored them for the deed, by 
giving one of the Dispensaries their name. 

Mr. Penfield had few advantages for acquiring learn- 
ing. From boyhood, to the age of twenty-five, he was 
employed in farming pursuits. Before he was twenty-one, 
he removed, with his father and family, to Westchester 
county, New York. 

For twelve or thirteen years, Mr. Penfield conducted 
a lucrative business, in the town of New Rochelle. On 



GEORGE J. PENFIELD. 321 

the breaking out of the war, he aided in fitting out the 
first regiment of volunteers which went from Westchester 
county, and which participated in the disastrous battle 
of Bull Run. He, and other patriotic gentlemen in that 
vicinity, pledged themselves to the support of the families 
of the soldiers who went out at that time ; and they faith- 
fully redeemed their pledge. And, in fact, all through 
the war, Mr. Penfield was among the foremost of those 
who assiduously exerted themselves to fill the quotas of 
men, which were demanded for the purpose of filling up 
our broken columns in the field. In 1862, he was elected 
Secretary of the Westchester county Mutual Insurance 
Company, and was subsequently chosen President of it. 
He has also held various town offices. He is now a mem- 
ber of the Board of Education, and one of the first Trustees 
of the village of New Rochelle; and he has twice repre- 
sented his town in the Board of Supervisors, having been 
elected by the Democratic party. He is President of the 
Savings Bank in New Rochelle; and, as a business man, 
displays eminent characteristics. He very matei'ially aided 
in securing the erection of a new church edifice for the 
congregation of which he is a member, also in improving 
the public schools in order to meet the growing wants of 
his town, and in accomplishing the incorporation of the 
village of New Rochelle. 

Mr. Penfield is of irreproachable character, and a 
useful citizen. He was elected to the Assembly, over 
his Republican opponent, by a fair majority ; and was 
appointed on the Committee on Insurance Companies. 

41 



HENRY A. PHILLIPS. 



Lewis county is represented in the Assembly, this 
year, by a new member, Henry A. Phillips of Lowville, 
a young man of much promise. There are few men in 
Lewis county who have enjoyed better early advantages, 
or who have gathered more experience or useful knowl- 
edge from passing events, than Mr. Phillips. Having 
early received a thorough education, and mingled much 
in public life, he is now well prepared to discharge the 
responsibilities of a position, which he did not, in any way, 
seek. 

Mr. Phillips is a native of Connecticut, having been 
born in Middletown, July 20th, 1834. His parents were 
of English descent. In the early part of his life, he went 
to Lewis county, New York, and attended school at Low- 
ville Academy, several years ; after that, he graduated at 
the State Normal School, at Albany, and subsequently was 
a student at the Meridan Classical Academy, in New 
Hampshire. He is a good scholar, and has obtained con- 
siderable celebrity, as a literary lecturer. He is one of the 
best political speakers in Lewis county. 

For several years, he edited the Journal and Republi- 
can, a newspaper printed at Lowville. His reputation as 
a journalist is well established, and it is acknowledged 
that he conducted the paper with discretion and ability, 
doing very much in his county to elevate the Republican 
party to its present commanding position. Mr. Phillips 
left the publishing business, in consequence of ill health, 
about two years ago, and has since traveled extensively, 
greatly to the improvement of his health. 

He was, for three yeai-s, Chairman of the Republican 
county Committee, of Lewis county, a position which he 



JOSEPH H. PLUMB. 323 

filled with signal ability. He has often been elected dele- 
gate to the various political conventions of his party, in 
the State, and has formed a thorough acquaintance with 
the public men of the day. He now enters upon his first 
experience as a legislator, with all the qualifications which 
a new member can possess — honesty, education and talent. 
He occupies a position in the front rank of the young 
members of the Legislature. His brief speech in the 
Assembly on the bill to provide for a Constitutional Con- 
vention, was concise and ai-gumentative. 

He holds a good position on Committees, and is well 
known as an active, useful and influential legislator. 



JOSEPH H. PLUMB. 



Colonel Plumb belongs to a New England family. His 
father, Mr. Ralph Plumb emigrated from Connecticut to 
this State, about the close of the war with Great Britain, 
making his home, for a season, in Oneida countj r . He 
afterward removed to Talmadge, on the Western Reserve, 
Ohio. Here his son Joseph was born, March 10th, 1819. 
The ensuing July, Mr. Plumb removed to Fredonia, in 
Chautauqua county, where he remained four years, after 
which, he made his residence at Gowanda, near Aldrich 
Mills, lying in the town of Collins, Erie county. At this 
period the region was a wilderness, and but two or three 
white families dwelt in the vicinity. Here young Plumb 
spent his boyhood. Great pains were taken with his edu- 
cation. His father and family belonged to the Presbyte- 
rian Church, of which he has also been a member for many 
years. Joseph was duly put to school, and at riper age, 



324 LIFE SKETCHES. 

became a student at the Fredonia Academy, and also at 
the Oneida Institute, at Whitesboro', then under the 
charge of Rev. Beriah Green. 

After leaving school, he entered his father's store, and 
afterward became a partner. They carried on business, in 
an honorable way, securing general confidence, and with it, 
liberal patronage. Several years afterward, he engaged 
also in milling, and established a factory for wool carding 
and cloth dressing, in those days an important branch of 
business. He prospered in everything that he undertook, 
and acquired a handsome fortune. Finally, several years 
ago, he withdrew from mercantile business, and having 
bought a large farm, gave his attention entirely to dairy- 
ing, in which he has been actively engaged ever since. 

He held, for several years, the rank of Colonel of the 
198th Regiment, of the New York State Militia. 

The Plumb family always took an active interest in 
political subjects. They were supporters of Whig prin- 
ciples. Mr. Alvin Plumb represented the county of 
Chautauqua, in the Assembly, in 1833 and 1837, and 
Ralph, his brother, was elected from Erie county, in 1834. 
Colonel Plumb himself, was a member of the Assembly in 
1860, but had no share in its unenviable reputation, having 
early resolved to work for no measure which was pressed 
by improper agencies. He also held the office of Super- 
visor of the town of Collins for six years, and was Chair- 
man of the Board at its last session. 

After the dissolution of the Whig party, Colonel Plumb 
united with the " Americans," and was their candidate for 
the Assembly in 1859, receiving over twelve hundred 
majority. He has ever since acted with the Republicans, 
supporting Mr. Lincoln, for President, in I860, and 
forming that wing of the dominant political party which 
supported the emancipation policy, and the most vigorous 
prosecution of the war. At the last election he received 



WILLIAM POOL. 325 

3,195 votes, a majority of 361. He is a man of unassuming, 
manners, untiring industry, and great wariness. More 
such representatives would insure the best legislation. 

Mr. Plumb is a member of the Committees on Insurance 
Companies, Claims, and Local General Orders. 



WILLIAM POOL. 



Mr. Pool was born in Lewiston, Niagara county, New 
York, May 15th, 1825, and is the eldest of seven children, 
five of whom are living. He is a descendant, in the seventh 
degree, from Edward Pool, who died in Weymouth, 
Mass., in 1G64. His father, Thomas F. Pool, was born in 
Abington, Mass., and removed with his parents to Niagara 
county, the year previous to the declaration of the war of 
1812, where, with the exception of a year, when driven 
from the frontier by the invasion of the British and 
Indians, he has ever since resided, in the enjoyment of a 
competence secured by an honest and industrious life. 
His mother, previous to marriage, was Miss Fanny 
Sutherland, who removed to Niagara county from Suth- 
erland's Falls, Vermont, when quite young, and engaged 
in school teaching. Her ancestry, on the maternal side, 
is traceable to Prince Rupert of Cromwell's time. 
Senator Sutherland, of Westchester county, is, we 
believe, a relative. She died in 1849. 

Mr. Pool spent his youth upon the farm, and enjoyed 
such advantages as were afforded by the common schools 
of those days, with the additional advantage of a period 
passed at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, New 
York. He married Miss Wealthy Woolson, in 1848, 



326 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and settled near his birth-place. He was, soon after, 
appointed Postmaster of the Dickinsonville Post-office, 
just then established under Mr. Fillmore's adminis- 
tration. Ambitious to engage in other pursuits, he 
resigned his office, leased his farm, and removed to Lock- 
port, in 1852, entering the office of the Lockport Daily 
Courier (then owned by C. L. Skeels, Esq.), as assistant 
in the editorial and business department. In May, 1854, 
in compliance with the wishes of prominent citizens of 
Niagara Falls, the publication of the Niagara Falls Gazette 
was commenced by him, in company with B. F. Sleeper, 
Esq. In January, 1864, Mr. Pool became sole proprietor, 
and he continues to manage and edit the Gazette with 
pecuniary profit, and to the evident satisfaction of his 
townsmen. 

Mr. Pool entered political life as an earnest Whig, and 
he has ever since been steadily opposed to the general 
policy of the Democratic party. His town is strongly 
Democratic; hence, although he has been the candidate 
of his party for the highest town offices, he has never 
held other than those of minor importance. His 
political fidelity and party services were very properly 
recognized by the Republican party of his Assembly Dis- 
trict, in 1866, and he was unanimously nominated in 
convention as its candidate for Member of Assembly. 
The nomination was ratified by the largest majority (566) 
ever given for that office by the towns comprising the Dis- 
trict, which has been represented by such able men as 
Hon. P. B. Porter (Speaker of the Assembly in 1841), 
Hon. Burt Van Horn (present Member of Congress), the 
late Colonel P. A. Porter (killed at Coal Harbor while 
leading his regiment, the 8th New York Heavy Artillery), 
and others. He is a member of the Committees on 
Engrossed Bills and Public Printing, and is Chairman of 
the former. 



OSCAR F. POTTER. 32 V 

Mr. Pool has always taken a deep interest in all that 
related to the prosperity of his village and county. He 
has invested liberally of his time and means in aid of 
local improvements, and in attending to the educational, 
church, military and social organizations and interests of 
his village. 



OSCAR F. POTTER. 



Mr. Potter represents the Fourth District of Albany 
county. His native town is Fort Edward, "Washing- 
ton county, New York, -where he was born in 1824. 
Having lived there during the first eight years of his 
life, he removed with his parents to Waterford, New 
York. The death of his father occurred when he was 
thirteen years old. As the boy Oscar grew up, he 
was engaged on the canals and rivers of this State, and 
connected with the lumbering business, in which he is 
now interested. In 1861, Mr. Potter was elected Justice 
of the Peace of the town of Watervliet, on the Repub- 
lican ticket, and held that office until 1866. At that 
time, the slaveholders' rebellion having broken out, he 
arranged his business matters with a view of entering 
the army, but he was turned from his purpose by those 
who furnished the materials for the first monitor, and was 
induced to aid the government by supplying articles for 
naval and army uses. In doing so, however, he was not 
fortunate enough to accumulate wealth, as did many 
others ; but, on the contrary, he contributed fully as much 
as he made, to support the cause of the country. Since 
the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Potter, in common with 
numerous other Republicans in his town, has worked with 



328 LIFE SKETCHES. 

renewed zeal for the predominance of his party. In this, 
they have been eminently rewarded by seeing the strong- 
holds of Democracy broken np, and their own ticket 
triumphant. He was elected to the Assembly by a 
majority of two hundred and ninety-two. He has a 
position on the Committees on Affairs of Villages, and 
Public Lands. Mr. Potter earnestly advocates all 
measures for the improvement of the Hudson river, 
believing that the key to the inland resources of the 
State should not be overlooked in our expenditures. 



ALPHEUS PRINCE. 



Me. Prince is the member from the Fourth District of 
Erie county, comprised of the towns of Alden, Amherst, 
Chictawauga, Clarence, Elma, Grand Island, Lancaster, 
Marilla, Newstead and Tonawanda, representing a popu- 
lation of 29,486. He was born in the town of Verona, 
Oneida county, New York, in the " Tilden Hill district," 
on the 13th of December, 1824, and is therefore in his 
forty-third year. His father Mr. David Prince, a most 
estimable citizen, and family removed to Erie county, in 
1836, where he still resides. Young Prince attended the 
district school in his native town, and afterward at New- 
stead, but subsequently took an academic course at Clinton, 
Oneida county. He was always popular among his mates. 
He is a farmer by vocation, but being of an active tem- 
perament, always took a warm interest in public matters. 
He is " six feet high and well-proportioned," weighing two 
hundred and forty-five pounds. Having a clear florid com- 
plexion and a brilliant eye, he is one of the good looking 
men in the House. Possessed of great suavity of manner 



SAMUEL M. PURDY. 329 

and an agreeable sociability of temperament, he wins the 
good opinion of all with whom he comes in contact. In 
politics, Mr. Prince has always been a Democrat, and as 
such, was a delegate to the Charleston Convention of 1860. 
He has been a delegate to several State Conventions, and 
as a politician he always had the confidence of the late 
Dean Richmond whom he greatly resembles in personal 
appearance, and in his strong common sense view of men 
and politics. Mr. Pkince has ever stood well with his 
party; among his fellow citizens he is generally respected, 
as he never unpleasantly obtrudes his opinions upon those 
who see proper to differ with him. The only important 
political offices ever held by Mr. Peince, previous to his 
election to the Assembly, last fall, were Deputy United 
States Marshal, and Deputy United States Collector at 
Buffalo. He is a member of the Committee on Roads and 
Bridges. 



SAMUEL M. PURDY. 



West Farms, a town in Westchester county, New 
York, is situated along the Sound, and the Harlem River. 
Its scenery is picturesque ; Bronx River bounding it on 
the east, and Harlem River on the west, and Mill-Brook 
winding its way through the central portion ; undulating 
plains, broken, here and there, by ridges, and productive 
and well-tilled farms, all conspire to combine within its 
limits a great deal of beauty and utility. Mr. Purdy has 
long been a resident of this town, and ever since he settled 
among its people, has held an honorable rank among his 
townsmen. He was born, August 28th, 1824, in East 
Chester, Westchester county, New York. In youth, he 
42 



330 LIFE SKETCHES. 

received an ordinary English edncation, and then studied 
law in the office of Samuel E. Lyon, Esq., of White 
Plains. At the age of twenty-five, his law studies having 
been completed, Mr. Purdy passed the usual examination, 
and was admitted to practice, settling in the town of West 
Farms. The people elected him Justice of the Peace, in 
1850, and they have conferred that office upon him, each 
successive term ever since. He was a member of the 
Board of Supervisors, in the years 1855, '56, '61, '64, '65 
and '66, being four times elected without opposition. At 
his last election to the office of Supervisor, out of the 521 
votes cast, Mr. Purdy received 513 ; at the same time he 
was chosen Justice of the Peace by a vote of 518 to 4. 
Evidently the electors of West Farms are very well satis- 
fied with Mr. Purdy. Such local popularity is rarely 
possessed by any man. He enjoys the confidence of the 
inhabitants in his town and vicinity, who often consult 
him in business matters, intrust large sums of money to 
him for investment, and act upon his sagacious suggestions. 
He is not a public reformer, but he entertains and practices 
the strictest principles of temperance ; and his personal 
example in this direction, is a potent, silent influence, 
which wins the regard of the community, and jdaces him 
on a high plane of morality. 

In politics, Mr. Purdy was a Whig, until the election 
of James Buchanan for the Presidency; since that time, 
he has most scrupulously indorsed the Democratic plat- 
forms and nominees. While the conflict with the South 
was transpiring, his influence, both in an official capacity, 
and as a private citizen, was used in filling the quotas 
required, each time when there was a call for troops, thus 
saving the town from a draft. He was elected to the 
Assembly, last fall, by a majority of 820. Mr. Purdy 
serves on the Committee on Internal Affairs, and capably 
performs his legislative work. 



JOHN RABER. 



Mr. Raber, Representative of the Sixth District of 
Kings county, is a native of Prussia ; he was born March 
2d, 1823. He came to this country when he was ten 
years of age; and, until 1841, his home was in the city of 
New York. Though he received but the advantages of an 
ordinary business education, yet he entered upon the active 
pursuits of life, determined to battle successfully. His first 
employment was as a clei'k in the agricultural business ; in 
1850, he was engaged in wire cloth and sieve manufactur- 
ing ; in 1857, he was interested in the flour and feed trade ; 
and, some time after, was largely engaged in the grocery 
business. In all of these various undertakings, Mr. Raber 
has met with the success which follows energy, enterprise 
and practical knowledge. 

Mr. Raber has always been an active and unchanging 
Democrat ; not in any sense an office seeker, he, only once 
before his election to the Assembly, was a candidate for 
the indorsement of the people ; that was in 1865, when he 
ran for Supervisor of the Sixteenth Ward of Brooklyn, 
and was defeated through party divisions. But, in 1 866, 
he received the unanimous support of the Democracy. 
Mr. Raber is a quiet man, speaking seldom, and then 
briefly ; and, as a representative, is attentive and devoted 
to the interests of the public. 



FRANK A. RANSOM. 



Mr. Ransom, Member of Assembly from the Seventh 
District of New York city, was born at Olcott, Niagara 
county, New York, March 5th, 1838. He is mainly of 
English descent. After several removals, his pax*ents took 
up their residence at Lockport, in the same county, in 
1847, where they still reside. There he enjoyed the 
advantages of education afforded by the Lockport Union 
School, until fourteen years of age, at which time he set 
out to make his own way in the world, commencing as a 
clerk in the village of his nativity. In 1856, he started 
for New York city, and was there engaged as a book- 
keeper in a large importing house. In the spring of 1858, 
owing to the fact that the firm by which he was employed 
became somewhat involved, and the prospects of obtain- 
ing employment being rather limited at that time, he 
concluded to spend the summer with his parents at Lock- 
port. But his active disposition would not brook idleness, 
and failing to procure other employment he applied 
for and obtained the place of teacher in a district school 
in his native county. He took the school for three months, 
with the privilege of teaching for five if he should so 
conclude. Beginning with the idea of having a better 
school than had ever been taught there before, he quickly 
ascertained that thoroughness in the teacher was not merit 
in the scholars' opinion, and that many of the parents 
sympathized with their children in that belief. When the 
three months were up, he was only too glad to get rid of 
his thankless task. This was his view of teaching. Hav- 
ing now arrived at the age of manhood, he felt that it was 
time for him to lay out a course for life, and concluded to 
enter the legal profession. He was admitted as a student 



FRANK A. RANSOM. 333 

into the office of Messrs. Woods, Murray & Greene, of 
Lockport, Attorneys of extensive practice in the western 
part of the State. After remaining in their office, about a 
year, he left his studies and again went to New York, 
determined to accumulate sufficient means, and then resume 
his studies, which he never entirely abandoned although he 
has since been busily engaged in conducting a successful 
mercantile trade. In 18G0, he engaged in the liquor busi- 
ness, in Bleecker street, which he conducts at the present 
time. He was admitted to the Bar at the December term 
of the Supreme Court, in and for the city and county of 
New York, in 1866. 

He has never mingled actively in politics, although 
always a strict and uncompromising Democrat, believing 
the Constitution of the United States, valid both in peace 
and in war. He never held a political office before. He 
was elected to the Legislature as Member of Assembly, 
for 1867, from the Seventh District of New York city, 
receiving the nominations of the Tammany, Mozart, and 
Conservative Republican Conventions. He was opposed 
by Edward Mitchell (Radical Republican), and James 
Riley who received the nominations of the McKeon and 
Democratic Union Conventions. His majority over Mr. 
Mitchell was ninety-four, Mr. Riley getting but a small 
vote. The seat is contested by Mr. Mitchell who claims 
that in the First District of the Fifteenth Ward, the can- 
vassers gave to Riley votes which were cast for him, 
(Mitchell), and which determined the election. No 
fraud is charged upon Mr. Ransom. He is the first 
Democrat ever elected to the Assembly from the Fifteenth 
Ward. The district has been heretofore Republican. He 
is on the Affairs of Villages. 



JAMES REED. 



The Member from the Eighth District of New York, 
was horn on the 19th of August, 1818, in New Brunswick, 
New Jersey. His paternal ancestors were Irish, and 
the maternal ones were German. While yet an infant, 
Mr. Reed was taken to the city of New York, by his 
parents, where he resided until fourteen years of age, 
having enjoyed the benefits of a select school education. 
Then going to Yonkers, he engaged to a butcher, and 
thoroughly learned the trade, after five years' service. 
Returning to New York, he went to work in the Clinton 
Market, remained there a short time, and then went to 
Peekskill, where he hired out as a journeyman at his 
occupation. But New York city had too many attractions 
for him, and he soon returned to it, opening a market on 
Avenue B, and then in Broadway. He is now one of the 
prominent dealers in Fulton Market. 

Mr. Reed early took an active interest in politics, and 
was a general favorite among the young Democracy of 
1840 and 1844. The first public position ever filled by 
him, was that of Deputy Clerk of Washington Market, 
being appointed in 1852, which position he filled with 
credit to himself and advantage to the city. In 1860, he 
was elected one of the Aldermen of New York, but was 
defeated in his efibrts for reelection. Mr. Reed's election 
to the Assembly was by an overwhelming majority. In 
person, the subject of this sketch is very portly, and 
though often sick, he is attentive to his duties, and makes 
an excellent representative. 



AUSTIN L. REYNOLDS. 



Mr. Reynolds was born in the town of Moreau, Sara- 
toga county, Now York, on the 19th day of June, 1826. 
His father, George Reynolds, was originally from the 
State of Rhode Island, and early in life came into Moreau 
and established his homestead. He was for many years 
one of the most active and energetic business men of the 
town, and received, previous to his death, in 1839, all 
the respect due to a high-minded, worthy citizen. The 
subject of this sketch enjoyed the advantages of an 
academic education, pursuing a thorough course, first as a 
student at the Glens Falls Academy, and completing 
his studies at the Kinderhook Academy, in Columbia 
county. He next entered upon a course of legal studies, 
and thoroughly qualified himself for the Bar, to which he 
was admitted in 1852. "With fine prospects he entered 
upon the practice of a profession in which two of his 
brothers were engaged — Jajies L. Reynolds, of Fort 
Edward, taking high rank at the Washington county Bar, 
and Hon. John H. Reynolds, of Albany, distinguished as 
among the most eminent lawyers of the State. The con- 
finement of office employment at length so far impaired 
his health as to compel him to relinquish his practice, and 
engage in the active pursuits of out-door business. He 
turned his attention to farming, in which he was not a 
novice, having had charge of his mother's estate for 
several years after the demise of his father. He likewise 
engaged in lumbering, and has been amply successful in 
both occupations, in which he still continues. In 1854, he 
was a candidate for Member of Assembly, and was 
defeated by the small majority of thirteen votes. He 
was connected with the Democratic party down to the 



336 LIFE SKETCHES. 

commencement of the Slaveholders' rebellion, when he 
felt compelled to sunder old party ties, and place himself 
on the side of his country, in the ranks of the Repub- 
lican Union party. None were warmer in the support of 
the war for the preservation of the Union, and none have 
more firmly maintained the great principles of the party 
to which he now belongs. He has held various positions 
in town and county. For seven terms he has been Super- 
visor of Moreau, elected as a Democrat, previous to the 
war, five years in succession, from a town largely Repub- 
lican, and since twice elected by the Union party to the 
same office, and twice in succession as a Member of 
the State Assembly. He first took his seat in January, 
1806, and served on the Committee on Cities, one of the 
most important committees of the House, and also on 
the Committee on Roads and Bridges. His second term 
began in January, 1867, and he was again placed on the 
Committee on Cities. 

As a man, he possesses all the solid qualities that give 
to character its worth and beauty. His mental and moral 
habits give cast to his course of action in the ordinary 
affairs of life. He takes time to plan, but, when resolved, 
no obstacles turn him from his purpose, and success is 
not problematical. Perhaps few men act with greater 
preassurance of desired results ; and, by a wise forecast, 
directing his efforts, he has established a high reputation 
as a safe and prosperous business man. As a friend, he is 
generous, firm, reliable. As a citizen, he is true to the 
best interests of society. Upholding and illustrating 
the virtues that adorn, denouncing and uprooting the 
vices that disgrace, he is always careful that his example 
shall be worthy of imitation. As a legislator, he took 
high rank, during his first term in the Assembly; and 
so honorably did he discharge his duties, as to make a 
reputation of which his constituents are justly proud, 



WILLIAM H. EICE. 337 

and they returned him to his present seat by a largely 
increased majority, satisfied that he will again ably repre- 
sent them, and maintain the honor of their choice. He 
enjoys the popular favor to an eminent degree, and in 
every respect is worthy of the repeated marks of confi- 
dence bestowed upon him by the people. 



WILLIAM H. RICE. 



Doctor William H. Rice represents the Second District 
of Oswego county. He was born in Elbridge, Onondaga 
county, New York, in 1821 ; but, when he was quite young, 
his parents removed to Clay, in the same county, where the 
most of his youth was spent. His early education was 
acquired in the common schools of the town, and in some 
of the academies of the State. His medical studies were 
commenced in his own county, and subsequently pursued, 
for two years, in New York city; he graduated from 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, after a thorough 
course of study, in 1840. 

After graduating, Doctor Rice spent nearly two years, 
traveling in New England, and in the Southern and 
Western States. He subsequently resided one year in 
Brooklyn, New York. In 1850, he located in Caugh- 
denoy, Oswego county, his present residence. A thorough 
knowledge of his profession soon gave him a large field 
of practice. In sentiment, he has always been opposed to 
slavery, and, therefore, entered, at the first, into the Repub- 
lican organization, of which he is a leading member in his 
own locality. 

In the practice of his profession, Doctor Rice had little 

time to devote to office. He was, however, elected Town 
43 



338 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Superintendent of Common Schools, and, for some time, 
held the office of Postmaster in his village, and was 
Supervisor of his town in 1859, and again in 1860. 

In the fall of 1861, the Second Oswego County Regi- 
ment, the 81st New York Volunteers, was placed in the 
field, and, in December of that year, Doctor Rice was 
commissioned as its Surgeon. Thoroughly educated in 
his profession, he fulfilled all of his arduous duties with 
fidelity. He was with the 81st Regiment, during all of the 
Peninsular campaign, participating in the battle of Fair 
Oaks, in which the 81st, being in the advance, suffered 
severely. He was with his regiment, also, in all the 
famous " seven days' fight " before Richmond. After this, 
the 81st was detailed for garrison duty at Yorktown; but, 
in December, 1862, it was ordered south, where it partici- 
pated in the first attempt upon Charleston, in April, 1863. 
In July following, the regiment Avas ordered to North 
Carolina, Avhere it shared in the dangers of the cam- 
paign at that point. In the spring of 1864, it was 
attached to the "Army of the James," under General 
Butler, and was among the first regiments landed at 
Bermuda Hundred. Forming a part of the Corps of 
"Baldy Smith," it was uniformly in the fights, until 
the affair at Drury's Bluff, in which it was engaged under 
General Smith, after which it joined General Gkant at 
Coal Harbor, prominently participating in the severe 
affairs at that point, on the 2d and 3d of June, 1864. 

Doctor Rice was here placed in the responsible charge 
of the Field Hospital of the 18th Army Corps. He con- 
tinued on duty at that hospital, until the 12th of June, 
when the corps returned to Bermuda Hundred, and par- 
ticipated in the second attempt on that stronghold of 
Petersburgh. After this, he was put in charge of the 
medical department of General Carr's Brigade, then 
commanding the defenses of the James. He discharged 



SETH M. RICHMOND. 339 

the duties of this position, until he was mustered out, 
near the close of the war. He had the reputation of being 
a faithful, popular and efficient surgeon. 

Doctor Rice was elected by the Republicans of his 
District, to the Legislature of 1866, in Avhich body he 
served on the Committees on Public Health, Medical Col- 
leges and Societies, and Federal Relations. He was 
reelected to the Assembly of 1867. He is Chairman of 
the Committee on Charitable and Religious Institutions, 
and a member of the Committees on Public Health, Med- 
ical Colleges, &c. 

As a legislator, Doctor Rice is industrious and careful, 
and is vigilant and faithful to all the interests of his 
constituents, with whom he has earned the reputation of 
being a sagacious representative. 



SETH M. RICHMOND. 



Mr. Richmond, representing the county of Herkimer, 
in the Assembly, was born, May 17th, 1818, in the town 
of Augusta, Oneida county. His father, Deacon Isaac 
Richmond, was one of the very first settlers in Oneida 
county, to which he removed early in life, from Massachu- 
setts, where most of the ancestry of Mr. Richmond 
resided. 

With merely the advantages of a common school educa- 
tion, Mr. Richmond, when sixteen years of age, commenced 
as clerk in the country store of General Knox, in Augusta, 
and, in 1837, came to Little Falls, Herkimer county — where 
he has ever since resided — acting in the capacity of cashier 
and bookkeeper of the extensive works connected with the 
enlargement of the Erie Canal, at that point. Three years 



340 LIFE SKETCHES. 

later, he began business for himself, as a merchant and job- 
ber of goods, mostly connected with country trade, in the 
different villages of the county; and, in 1843, he commenced 
the manufacture of paper, and subsequently of axes. Ever 
since that time, he has been in active business, at Little 
Falls, and has been largely identified with the prosperity 
and groAvth of that village. He has been interested as a 
partner in the building and running of three large paper 
mills, one of which was destroyed by fire, in 1853, at a loss 
of $20,000 ; and, for many years, he carried on the princi- 
pal lumber trade of the village. Indeed, he was the 
pioneer in this extensive trade, between the timbered 
regions of the "North Woods" and the eastern markets. 
In 1841, he commenced the coal business, and furnished 
the first anthracite coal, for domestic use, ever seen in Little 
Falls ; and now the consumption of that article is several 
thousand tons per annum. For many years, he was also 
engaged in business upon the Erie Canal, witli the inter- 
ests, necessities and management of which, he became very 
familiar, and in the prosperity and success of which, he 
has always been deeply interested. 

In 1855, he was elected Justice of the Peace, on the 
Whig ticket, in opposition to the Know Nothing candi- 
date; and, in 1857, was chosen President of the village, 
to which position he was afterward reelected, for three 
successive years. He was Sheriff of Herkimer county, 
in 1860-63. During his official career, the Northern 
Copperhead riots transpired. Mr. Richmond issued a 
proclamation, enjoining all good citizens to stand by law 
and order. The result was salutary ; though at first many 
of his political opponents were disposed to harshly criti- 
cise him, yet, as time brought events into closer order, 
every man, whether Democrat or Republican, could not 
do otherwise than concur in his course. During the civil 
Avar, he was President of the Union clubs in his town, and 



SETH M. RICHMOND. 341 

received, at his house, many of the sanitary supplies, which 
were forwarded to their destination. In the mean time, 
he went to the front, and visited the soldiers at Fredericks- 
burgh and Arlington Heights, and while there, was made 
the recipient of large sums of money from the soldiers, for 
distribution among their families, on his return. 

In 1866, the county, under the new apportionment, 
being entitled to but one member of Assembly, he was, 
while absent from home, and totally ignorant of the action 
of the convention, unanimously nominated by the Repub- 
licans for that position. His majority, in the election, was 
next to the highest given, in the county, for any candidate. 
His political antecedents are those of the Whig party, 
from Harrison down to Fremont; and he has been known 
as an earnest advocate of internal improvements, the 
canal enlargement, and in favor of a national protective 
policy. He is a member of the Committees on Banks, 
and Local General Orders. Not claiming to be an orator, 
he, nevertheless, is ready to discuss his own points, in a 
plain, but business-like manner. He is exemplary in his 
habits and conduct, on all occasions. 



ELLIS H. ROBERTS. 



Ellis H. Roberts was born at Utica, in 1827. His 
father died when lie was very young. His mother is 
still blessing with her presence, her children and her 
grand-children. Mr. Roberts is a self-made man, bat, 
unlike most men of his class, he has not been content 
with simply building himself up by business enterprise ; 
but, at an early age, labored to get as good an education 
,as the country and the times afforded. Those Avho know 
him personally and well, or who are the readers of the 
Utica Morning Herald, can determine the measure of his 
success. He has been self-dependent from the age of nine 
years. He learned his trade in the printing office of his 
brother, R. W. Roberts, one of the best schools in the 
State. By industry, thrift, and self-denial, he acquired a 
first class 'academic and collegiate education. Every 
Yale man will understand the rank of Mr. Roberts, at 
New Haven, when told that he was member of the 
"Skull and Bone" fraternity, that he obtained the Bristed 
scholarship, and carried off the second honor in the large 
class of 1850. 

Soon after his graduation, Mr. Roberts became the 
chief writing editor of the Utica Morning Herald, a 
position he retained until the fall of 1854. In 1851, he 
married the eldest daughter of David E. Morris, of 
Utica. The brother of Mrs. Roberts, Edward Morris, 
D. D., of Columbus, Ohio, is quite renowned, at the 
West, as preacher and professor, and her father, was 
one of the very best men whom the writer of this brief 
notice ever knew; a gentleman in the highest sense, a 
Christian, known as such of all men. 



ELLIS H. ROBERTS. 343 

Mr. Roberts retired from the management of the 
Utica Morning Herald, during the fall of 1854, in con- 
sequence of divisions in the party of which it was the 
organ, but, soon after, he became its editor and proprietor. 
From that time, down to this hour, the advance of the 
Herald has been constant and rapid. It is now the organ, 
not only of the city of Utica, and the county of Oneida, 
but of many counties. No pains or money have been 
spared to enhance its usefulness and power. He was not 
content with making the Herald a sound and strong politi- 
cal organ, but he has Avon for it an excellent literary repute, 
and on agricultural matters it is an acknowledged autho- 
rity. It has a correspondent in New York; during the 
sessions of Congress and Legislature it has correspondents 
at Washington and Albany; at different times, and for 
years, some one of its editors has contributed to its 
columns instructive and brilliant letters from the old 
world. 

Mr. Roberts has always been surrounded by able 
assistants who have seconded his earnest efforts to make 
the Herald a first class newspaper. His energy has reaped 
its just rewards; the Herald has, at least, 10,000 daily sub- 
scribers, and is, of course, a power. In politics, he was a 
Whig; then a Republican. He writes and speaks with 
almost dangerous facility ; but, in all that he says, there 
is to be seen his liberal culture, and his natural force. His 
party, in Oneida county, owe very much to his pen and 
tongue. And the party and the country, likewise, owe 
him much for this, that, during the war, and especially 
during its darkest periods, when men's hearts were failing 
them for fear, and men's tongues were loose with censure, 
he stood by the government with unflinching courage. In 
a large and populous district, where the Herald had no peer 
for influence, he kept up the heart of the despondent by his 
cheering words, taught a generous confidence in our over- 



344 LIFE SKETCHES. 

burdened rulers, and nerved the people to the sacrifices 
necessary to the war's success and the salvation of the 
country. 

As a business man, Mr. Roberts is thorough and strict. 
He is just in his dealings, liberal in his charities, and on 
his integrity there is no stain. His opinions are firmly 
held, and boldly maintained. He does not turn his back 
on a cause because it is not popular, nor on a race, because 
it is lowly. In 1862, his friends nominated him for the 
Mayoralty of Utica. Utica is a Democratic town, and 
Mr. Roberts ran in the dark days of '62, when England 
was threatening, and the rebellion was assuming its grand- 
est proportions. He allowed no consideration to lessen 
his aggressive zeal for the government. In its behalf, 
he took no counsel of personal expediency, and he was 
beaten. He was a delegate to the National Union Con- 
vention of 1864. He was elected last fall to the present 
Assembly, from the Second District of Oneida county. 

His ability and his purity as a legislator will justify 
the estimate we have above set down. 



ALEXANDER ROBERTSON. 



In personal appearance Mr. Robertson may be classed 
among the substantial men. He is muscular, though not 
corpulent, and has the air of a man who " takes life easy," 
come weal or woe. Judging from his features, we would 
conclude that he is generous to his friends, and honorable 
but unshrinking to his foes ; that when he once settles 
into a project he is not to be turned from the accomplish- 
ment of it, while there remains a shadow of hope for it, 
and that when he has wrought out his purposes, he 
experiences no small amount of satisfaction. 

Mr. Robertson is forty-one years of age. He Avas 
born in Warrensburgh, Warren county, New York. He 
subsequently removed to Moreau, Saratoga county, and 
afterward to Fort Edward. At the age of seventeen, he 
left school and assisted his father on the farm. In 1848, 
he went to Whitehall, and engaged in the transportation 
business, and in 1855, removed to Albany, and still con- 
tinued in entei*prises of the same nature, transporting 
merchandise to and from Northern New York and Canada, 
and also conducting an extensive commission business. 
Through these channels of trade, Mr. Robertson has 
accumulated an amount of property sufficient to place him 
in a position of comparative independence. He bears a 
good reputation as a gentleman of honor, and enjoys 
a large degree of popularity, in the circles in which he is 
known. 

During the past eight or ten years, Mr. Robertson has 
participated in political agitations, and wielded a potent 
arm, in his party. In the Fall of 1864, he was elected to 
the Assembly on the Democratic ticket. During that 
session, he served on the Committee on Cities, was among 
44 



346 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the originators of the " Capitol Bill," and was one of the 
leading spirits Avho aided in carrying it through, on 
the last day of the session, in spite of the most vigorous 
opposition ; and, during this session, he has given notice of 
a bill to provide an appropriation for a New Capitol. 
Among other measures which he successfully advocated, 
was the Hudson River Improvement Bill, appropriating 
$150,000 for the purpose of improving the navigation of 
the Hudson. Judging Mr. Robertson's future by what 
he has hitherto accomplished, as a legislator, we do not 
hesitate to affirm that he will impartially guard the local 
interests of Albany. 

In politics he is a straightforward, outspoken Democrat ; 
and making our inferences from a knowledge of his Scotch 
decision, we think he will be a Democrat during the 
remainder of his life. 



HENRY ROGERS. 



This gentleman was born in the city of New York, on the 
16th day of July, 1832. His parents were of Irish extrac- 
tion. His grandfather, on his maternal side, participated 
as an officer in the Irish rebellion of '98. Mr. Rogers had 
only the advantages of a common school education, gained 
by his own industry and perseverance. He has always been 
a Democrat, taking a prominent part in New York poli- 
tics. In 1863, he was appointed Inspector of Streets, and 
held that position, until 1864. He was elected to the 
Assembly, in 1863, from the Ninth Assembly District of 
New York city, serving on the Committee of Expendi- 
tures of the Executive Department; was reelected as 
Member of Assembly in 1864, and served on the Commit- 



PATRICK RUSSELL. 347 

tee of Engrossed Bills. In 18G6, he was again returned, 
by the Tammany Democracy, to the Assembly, by a 
plurality of 579, running against a Mozart candidate and 
the Republican nominee. He is now serving on the 
Military and Defense Committee. In 1861, Mr. Rogers 
enlisted as a private in Colonel Duryea's (5th) Regiment 
of New York Volunteers, and proceeded to the front. 
He participated in the battle of Big Bethel, where he was 
seriously wounded in the side ; being thus incapacitated 
for duty, he was honorably discharged. Mr. Rogers is a 
mason and builder by occupation, carrying on the business 
extensively, in the Metropolis. He is a gentleman of 
energy and of fine social qualities, is popular in his Dis- 
trict, and is remarkable for his fidelity to his personal 
friends. 



PATRICK RUSSELL. 



The ancestors of Mr. Russell emigrated from Ireland 
to this country in 1813. His birth transpired at Pattei'- 
son, New Jersey, June 6th, 1830. When five years of 
age, he removed to Newark, and remained there until 
1848, in which year he went to the city of New York, 
and learned the trade of carriage making. 

He mingled but little in political contests, until 1860, 
when he was a candidate for Common Councilman of New 
York city, and was defeated. He was, however, elected 
to that office, in 1863, '64 and '65. Mr. Russell was 
nominated for the Assembly, by the Tammany wing of 
the Democracy, and elected by a majority of four hundred 
and sixty-two. He is on the Committtees. on Aliens and 
Engrossed Bills. 



348 LIFE SKETCHES. 

During the rebellion, he voted for Horatio Seymour, 
and claimed to be a War Democrat, at the same time con- 
tributing liberally from his means for the prosecution of 
the war. 



GEORGE H. SAN FORD. 



Mr. Sanford is a native of the town of Queensbury, 
Warren county, New York, where he was born December 
14th, 1836. He is of English extraction. His maternal 
grandfather removed from Lebanon, Connecticut, to 
Washington county, New York, about the year 1785, 
and married a daughter of William Robards, who was 
an officer in the French Avar, and Avas taken prisoner to 
Canada by the Indians, but afterward escaped by running 
the gauntlet. His paternal grandfather, David Sanford, 
at about the same time, emigrated from NeAV Milford, 
Connecticut, to Queensbury, NeAV York, where the father 
of the present George H. Sanford, Avas born, and Avho 
represented Warren county in the Legislature of 1841. 

Mr. Sanford lived with his parents at Glens Falls, and, 
at the age of tAvelve, entered the store of a merchant as 
clerk, serving in that capacity, during the summer season, 
for a couple of years, and attending school during the 
winter time. In this way, he Avas able to make a prac- 
tical application of Avhat he learned. When he Avas 
fourteen, his parents changed their residence to Ballston, 
New York. Lad, though he Avas, he resolved to earn his 
OAvn means of support, in the future, and, Avith the con- 
sent of his father and mother, Avent to Albany and found 
employment as receiving and shipping clerk in the Avhole- 
sale lumber trade. His father Avas a manufacturer of and 






GEORGE H. SANFORD. 349 

denier in lumbei*, and the experience which young San- 
ford had previously gained was considerable. He con- 
tinued in the employ of the same firm for six years, during 
the season of navigation, excepting one year while attend- 
ing the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, New 
York. During two winters of this time, he attended other 
schools, and the remaining three winters, he was engaged 
in lumbering, in a moderate way, on his own account, in 
Genesee county, New York, and Potter county, Penn- 
sylvania. When twenty years old, Mr. Sanford left 
Albany, and gave his whole attention to his own business 
plans. Having made Syracuse, New York, his residence, 
he there entered into the lumber and salt trade, combin- 
ing also the manufacture of lumber at Saginaw, Michigan, 
and locating pine lands in that State. He was one of the 
Pioneer Company organized, in 1858, to bore for salt 
water, in the Saginaw Valley. In the spring of 1862, 
being uncertain in reference to the effect which the war 
might have upon commercial interests, Mr. Sanford 
retired from business, invested his means in real estate, 
and, at the age of twenty-five, removed from Syracuse to 
Oneida, New York, his present place of residence. He is 
now first Vice-President of the Oneida Savings Bank, and 
is a Director in the Oneida Valley National Bank ; in 
business circles, he is esteemed for his sagacity and 
foresight. 

Political questions have always interested him, and the 
result of his early reasoning, was his espousal of Demo- 
cratic tenets, when he attained his majority. Mr. Sanford 
was a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, 
held at Chicago, in 1864, which nominated General 
McClellan for the Presidency. We believe that he was 
the youngest member of that body. A unanimous nomi- 
nation was given him for the office of Supervisor, in the 
spring of 1865, by the Democracy of the town of Verona. 



350 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Such was his personal popularity, he was, after a lively 
canvass, elected by one hundred and fifty-nine majority, 
though the toAvn was strongly Republican. Last year, 
he was reelected to the same office, by a majority of three 
hundred and eighty-nine. In the Democratic Convention 
of the Third Assembly District of Oneida county, held in 
the fall of 18G6, he was nominated for Member of Assem- 
bly. His Republican jiredecessor, Hon. B. N. Huntington, 
who, though running in an acknowledged Democratic Dis- 
trict, had been elected, the previous year, by nearly eight 
hundred majority, was again placed in nomination by the 
Republicans, but he declining to run, Pliny Phelps, of 
Camden, was chosen as candidate, in his stead. In this 
issue, Mr. Sanford had a plurality of four hundred and 
ninety votes. 






HIRAM SCHUTT. 



Mr. Schutt was a participant in the country's struggle 
to maintain its existence against the onslaughts of the 
rebellion. He was commissioned Captain of Company K., 
148th Regiment New York Volunteers, August 14th, 
1862. He served with his regiment, during the autumn of 
that year, in the campaign against Suffolk, Virginia, and 
he was stationed at Fort Norfolk, during the following 
winter. In the summer of 18G3, a general Court-martial 
was held in the city of Norfolk, of which Captain 
Schutt was a member. He rejoined his regiment at 
Yorktown, the succeeding fall. In the raid on Rich- 
mond by General Wistar — which was probably the 
severest ever made on that city — in the month of Feb- 
ruary, 1864, he was engaged with the forces employed on 



HIRAM SCHUTT. 351 

that occasion. Leaving Yorktown with his regiment, in 
the spring of 1864, he ascended the James river, with 
the troops under the command of Major-General Butler, 
and was in the different engagements on the south side of 
Richmond, in the month of May following. At the battle 
of Drury's Bluff, he was wounded, but he recovered 
sufficiently to participate in the operations before Peters- 
burgh, during the months of June, July and August, 
1864. But ill health compelled him to offer his resigna- 
tion, in September, 1864. It was accepted, and he was 
honorably discharged from the service, on account of 
physical disability. Thus terminated his military career 
which had been characterized by his ready performance of 
whatever was presented to him by the necessities of the 
moment. There were times when he would have been 
justifiable in asking for an extension of his furlough ; and 
yet, regardless of failing health, he manfully and heroic- 
ally buckled on his weapons, and faced the foe again. 

Mr. Schutt was born in the town of Manchester, 
Ontario county, New York. His father was a native of 
Massachusetts and was of French descent. He moved to 
western New York, early in the present century, and 
located in Ontario county. He was a soldier in the war 
of 1812, and took part in the engagement at Queenstown 
Heights. After the war, he followed the occupation of a 
farmer, and during eighteen or twenty years, held the 
office of Justice of the Peace. 

Mr. Schutt obtained his education in the common 
schools of the country, and made no little proficiency in 
scholarly attainments. He was a farmer until the year, 
1853, at which time he entered into mercantile business, 
and has continued therein, until the present time. He was 
elected Justice of the Peace in 1860, and Justice of Ses- 
sions in 1861. Formerly a Whig, he very naturally 
became an adherent of Republicanism. In 1865, he was 



352 LIFE SKETCHES. 

chosen to represent the First District of Ontario county, 
in the Assembly, and was reelected in 1866. He is one 
of the Committee on Militia and Public Defense, and 
Chairman of the Committee on Roads and Bridges. 

Captain Schutt has a tall, muscular form, proud, erect 
bearing, and squarely cut features, which give him a 
decided air militairc ; and his every movement gives 
proof of his abilities to command and to defend. 



JOHN H. SELKREG. 



Mr. Selkreg has been a practical printer, and, con- 
sequently, has had all the varieties of experience and 
change appertaining to that occupation. He is editor 
and proprietor of the Ithaca Journal, a paper which has 
aided in many a hard fought battle, and which still sur- 
vives, as Mr. Selkreg, by his firm Scotch tenacity, has 
fully proven. 

His parents died when he was a mere boy (the youngest 
of a family of five children), and left him to the care of 
the older members of the family. Pie never attended 
school after he was eleven years old, and what little 
education he had gained up to that time, had been 
acquired in the district school at Staatsburgh, New York, 
his native place. His disposition, at the age of thirteen, 
rather inclined to printing, as an occupation ; therefore, 
having left his brother-in-law, with whom he had been 
living, he began an apprenticeship in the printing office 
of the Poughkeepsie Telegraph, then published by Messrs. 
Killey & Low, and which was, at that time, as it now is, 
the Democratic organ of Dutchess county. He continued 
there, until the year 1838. Having arrived at that point 



JOHN" H. SELKREG. 353 

where he thought himself sufficiently proficient to com- 
mence life on his own responsibility, he became a resident 
of Brooklyn, and, for a few months, entered into a partner- 
ship with the firm of Messrs. Arnold, Van Anden & Co., 
publishers of the Brooklyn Eagle. Not being entirely 
satisfied with his business relations, he returned to Pough- 
keepsie in 1839, and published the Poughkeepsie Casket, a 
literary paper. Two years subsequently, he purchased an 
interest in the Ithaca Journal, and, in connection with Hon. 
A. Wells, continued its publication for several years. He 
afterward became sole proprietor of the establishment. 

The Ithaca Journal was once the Democratic organ of 
Tompkins county. In 1.848, Mr. Selkreg refused to sup- 
port Mr. Cass, and ran up Mr. Van Buren's name. The 
Hunkers established the Flag of the Union, to break down 
the Journal ; but they not succeeding in the attempt, the 
"Flag" was lowered, and the Journal still continued to be 
the exponent of the Democracy. From the year 1850 to 
1S5G, Mr. Selkreg saw that a great change was being- 
wrought in the Democratic party. The repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise seemed to him an outrage xipon political 
honor. Such was the drift of affairs, he refused to support 
Buchanan, and advocated the claims of Fremont, thus 
undoubtedly carrying over the county to the " Path- 
Finder," inasmuch as the Republican vote ran up in a 
single year, from 1,460 to 4,030. 

From 1857 to 1861, he discharged the duties of Com- 
missioner of Loans. President Lincoln made him Post- 
master of Ithaca, in 1861. He was reappointed, in 1865, 
by Andrew Johnson, who, in the most nonchalant man- 
ner, subjected him to the guillotine, on the 25th of August, 
1866, for refusing to adopt Mr. Johnson's peculiar views. 
Mr. Selkreg survived the shock; andj under the warm 
pressure of his friends, accepted the nomination for Member 
of Assembly, being elected by a majority of 1,472. 
45 



354 LIFE SKETCHES. 

He has held several offices of business interests. At one 
time he was President of the Ithaca and Binghamton 
Telegraph Company, and he is now President of the Ithaca 
Calendar Clock Company. 

Mr. Selkreg, during the present session, is a member 
of the Committees of Ways and Means, and of Banks, 
two of the most important Committees of the House. 

He possesses a good deal of dry humor, and is keen as 
steel. His vigilance is unremitting; and his style of 
debate, though declamatory, is not at all unpleasant. 



ALBERT D. SHAW. 



Me. Shaw was born in the town of Lyme, Jefferson 
county, New York, 21st Decembei-, 1841. In June, 1861, 
he entered the service of his country, by enlisting in the 
35th Regiment, New York Volunteers, in which he served 
with honor to himself and credit to his family, until 
the expiration of the term of service of his regiment, 
which was mustered out, at Elmira, in June, 1863. He 
participated in the following memorable engagements : 
Rappahannock Station, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South 
Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburgh. After his dis- 
charge from the army, he received the appointment of 
special agent, under Captain Frederick Emerson at 
Watertown, which position he filled to the satisfaction of 
all, until discharged by order of the Government, at the 
close of the war of the great rebellion. 

He is a young man — one of the youngest ever sent from 
Jefferson county — but his strict integrity, perseverance and 
attention to the duties of a legislator, have won for him 
many warm friends. Few of the young members stand 
higher, or have a better record than he, in the Legislature. 



THOMAS SHILAND. 



Cambridge, New York, is one of the delightful villages 
which adorn the county of Washington. It is situated in 
a very picturesque section ; and the pleasing landscapes 
which surround it, stretch far away into charming per- 
spective. The inhabitants, in the main, are comparatively 
wealthy, and generously hospitable. Our lot, once or 
twice, has been, for a short time, cast in that neat village ; 
and we can cheerfully recommend any one to the " tender 
mercies " of its people. 

Mr. Shiland is one of the residents of that place. He 
is the owner and occupant of the old homestead purchased 
by his father, when the country was a wilderness. He is 
of Scotch descent, and cherishes a commendable ancestral 
pride ; and the associations of youth and riper years, 
which naturally cluster around his home, create within his 
heart, more than an ordinary reverence for it. He is fifty- 
two years old. Mr. Shiland entered the junior class of 
Union College ; but on account of sickness, he could not 
remain to graduate. When he left college, he preferred 
the wholesome pursuits of agriculture, to the more exciting 
and harassing cares of a professional life ; therefore, he 
became a farmer, and, by his intelligence and industry, his 
labors have been crowned with marked success. 

Mr. Shiland was first elected to the office of Justice of 
the Peace, in the year 1840, an office which he has held, 
Avithout interruption, until the present time. He also 
served as Justice of Sessions, four years. 

He was a prominent advocate, in the county, of Whig 
principles, until the formation of the Republican organiza- 
tion ; since that, he has been an influential leader of 
Republicanism. He was elected to the office which he 



356 LIFE SKETCHES. 

now holds, from the First Assembly District, in Washing- 
ton county by the pleasing little majority of eighteen 
hundred and sixty. He is on the Committees on State 
Prisons, and Agriculture. 

Mr. Shiland, veiy deservedly, enjoys the confidence of 
the community in which he lives. He is prominently 
identified with the educational, social, political and 
religious interests of his county, always interesting him- 
self, with commendable zeal, in every enterprise, having, 
for its object, the elevation of the moral and intellectual 
status of the masses; and his personal aid in securing men 
and means to aid the government, in the midst of our 
cruel civil Avar, was unflagging, and proved him to be a 
man of the strictest loyalty. His son, in the volunteer 
service, was wounded at Chancellorsville. 






JOHN SIGERSON. 



Mr. Sigerson represents the Sixth District of New 
York city. He was elected, as the workingmen's candi- 
date, over Hon. Jacob Seebacher, the regular Democratic 
candidate, who represented that district in the Assembly, 
during the years 1865 and 1866. In the last election, 
it was a generally conceded opinion that it would be 
impossible to defeat the Democratic nominee ; but such 
was the feeling against the New York "ring," and 
such was the careful organization of the workingmen's 
forces, Mr. Sigerson was elected by the triumphant 
majority of twelve hundred and forty-eight. 

In general politics, Mr. Sigerson is a Democrat ; but, in 
local affairs, he is opposed to that faction of the Democracy, 
in his city, which, by systematic fraud, has made itself 



JOHN SIGERSON. 357 

notorious from one end of the State to the other. When 
the Speaker made up his committees, Mr. Sigerson was 
appointed on the committees on Two-thirds and Three- 
fifths Bills, and Charitable and Religious Societies. 

He is of wealthy parentage, and is a native of the city 
of New York. In consequence of certain technical irregu- 
larities in a will made by his uncle, he lost considerable 
property, some years ago. Being ambitious to work his 
own way in the world, and inclined to active pursuits, he 
commenced business as a carman, when only fourteen 
years old, and followed that calling until 1860, when he 
accepted a clerkship in the department of the Croton 
Aqueduct, and remained there until January 1st, 1867, 
when he resigned, to assume his legislative duties. 
Although this is his first experience in any elective office, 
yet his sound sense amply qualifies him for supporting 
the interests of his constituents. 



FRANCIS SKILLMAN. 



This gentleman is a descendant, on the paternal side, 
of Thomas Skillman, and, on the maternal side, of 
Adrian Onderdonk, both of whom were Committee- 
Men, during the Revolutionary war, and were confined 
in the notorious "Jersey" prison-ship, at New York. 
During their imprisonment, they contracted a disease 
from which they never recovered. Mr. Skillman is thus 
a relative of the Bishops Onderdonk, of New York and 
Pennsylvania. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, 
but was reared by his grandfather, in the town of North 
Hempstead, Long Island, where he has ever since resided, 
following the avocation of farming. His landed estate is 
both extensive and valuable, and he is one of the best 
agriculturists in his town. He has served his full time in 
the militia of this State as Cornet, Lieutenant, and Captain 
in the Horse Artillery. But, in the midst of his labors, 
Mr. Skillman found time to devote to the reading of 
law, to which his attention was turned by his election 
as Justice of the Peace, nearly twenty years ago, which 
office he has continuously held to the present time. He 
discharged the duties of Justice of Sessions for three 
years ; and, ever since he Avas twenty-one, he has repeat- 
edly held town office of some kind. Mr. Skillman never 
solicited either a nomination or a vote, and, therefore, 
when the Democratic party nominated him for the Assem- 
bly, he was taken somewhat by surprise. He was elected 
by a majority of four hundred and forty-seven. He is a 
member of the Committee on Trade and Manufactures. 

In his manners, he is a pleasant, unassuming gentleman; 
and as a legislator, is watchful and industrious. 



HENRY SMITH. 



Mr. Smith, who represents the Second District of 
Albany county, is a lawyer of recognized ability and wide 
reputation. Although he has been but little in official 
position, he has gained honorable distinction in his profes- 
sion, and holds a place in the front rank at the Bar of the 
Capital. His conspicuous connection with several legal 
cases of extended interest, has made him known throughout 
the State, and though new to legislative halls, he is not a 
stranger to those who meet him there. A thick-set man, of 
medium height, with large head, clear blue eyes, lips and 
chin significant of firmness and power, features round 
and genial, but capable of an austere expression before the 
witness-box, and hair well tinged with gray, though he is 
yet in the prime of life ; such is the man whom the Capital 
sends as one of her representatives. 

Mr. Smith's father, Thomas Smith, Esq., was, like him- 
self, a prominent lawyer, of Schoharie county, and subse- 
quently of Albany. The son was born at Cobleskill, in 
the former county, March 14th, 1829. While a lad, he 
attended the common school, and received the meager 
rudimentary instruction imparted, in those days, in schools 
poorly organized and irregularly maintained. But in the 
Academy at Esperance, which he entered, August 1st, 
1842, he enjoyed better advantages. His teacher was a 
Scotchman, named William McLaren, who had all the 
conscientiousness and thoroughness of his people, together 
with all their sternness and severity. Vehement, impetu- 
ous and ugly, his austere discipline was not unfrequently 
illustrated by the swift and passionate propulsion of a 
well-worn text-book at the head of an offending pupil. 
His discipline in study was no less rigorous, but better 



360 LIFE SKETCHES. 

tempered, and the careful and thorough habits of reading 
and study which he acquired under this hard master, Mr. 
Smith has always retained, and to them he attributes much 
of his success. 

On the 10th of September, 1844, Mr. Smith left Cobles- 
kill, and became clerk in a hardware store, at Detroit, 
Michigan. But he remained there only a year, and return- 
ing to his former home, began reading law with his father, 
in January, 1846. Eighteen months of the diligent and 
searching study which had been learned under the stern 
old Scotch master, enabled the young student to pass a 
critical examination, and on the 10th of June, 1847, at the 
unusually early age of eighteen years, he was admitted to 
practice, in the old Court of Common Pleas, for the county 
of Schoharie. In 1850, upon attaining age, he was admit- 
ted to practice in all the Courts of the State, and has ever 
since sedulously devoted himself to his profession. His 
qualifications and business soon called upon him to act on 
a wider stage, and in February, 1857, he removed to 
Albany, where he has since resided. His rise in the pro- 
fession was rapid and substantial, from the very beginning. 
In 1854, his legal acquirements were so well recognized, 
that he received the nomination for County Judge ; but, 
being on the Whig ticket, with which party he had always 
been identified, was, of com-se, defeated. Upon the for- 
mation of the Republican party, he joined it, and, in 1862, 
received its nomination for Congress, in the Fourteenth 
District. Both counties composing the district, Albany 
and Schoharie, were hopelessly adverse, and he was 
defeated. In 1865, he was nominated by acclamation as 
the Republican candidate for District Attorney, and, after 
a severe contest, was elected by a small majority, it being 
the first time a Republican had carried the county, in 
several years. This office he still holds, and under the 
influence of his commanding talents, shrewd judgment, 



HENRY SMITH. 361 

and indefatigable industry, the number of convictions has 
largely increased, and the vicious classes have received 
such a check as they have not known for a long time 
before. As an evidence of Mr. Smith's popularity, it may 
also be stated that he was elected to the Assembly by a 
majority of five hundred and sixty-four, from a district 
which usually gives several hundred majority on the other 
side. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Smith's career has been varied and 
brilliant. His practice extends over a wide circuit of ter- 
ritory, and he has tried and argued many cases for the 
State, on behalf of the Attorney-General. Both in crimi- 
nal and civil causes he has Avon a merited distinction. In 
the trial of George W. Smith, County Judge of Oneida, 
before the Senate, which formed one of the most interest- 
ing of the few State trials in our history, he was 
associated with ex-Senator Shafer, for the defense. He 
is also one of the counsel for the contestants in the cele- 
brated Dudley will case, which is still before the courts ; 
and the fame of the Gordon trial, in which he acted as 
prosecuting attorney, is coextensive with the bounds of 
the State. This last trial, indeed, afforded so fair an exhi- 
bition of Mr. Smith's powers, that it may well be dwelt 
upon for a moment, as better illustrating them than any 
general analysis. The peculiar circumstances of the mur- 
der, the eminence of the counsel for the defense, the fact 
that they had already succeeded in gaining a new trial, 
the singular net-work of circumstantial evidence, all com- 
bined to invest the case with unusual interest. Mr. Smith 
conducted it with signal ability. The shrewdness with 
which he elicited all the facts, the keenness with which he 
made apparently insignificant circumstances assume a 
startling importance, the skill with which he wove the 
web of proof around the culprit, so closely as to leave no 
avenue of escape, were rare evidences of legal acumen. 

46 



3G2 LIFE SKETCHES. 

His closing address is generally considered a master-piece 
of forensic argument. In graphic force of portraiture, 
ingenious arrangement, and convincing weight of logic, it 
is seldom surpassed. As a speaker, Mr. Smith is direct, 
earnest, and impressive. He always prepares his cases 
with great care, but for the language of his sj}eeches he 
trusts to the moment. Disdaining all tawdry ornament, 
he seeks not to please, but to persuade ; not to charm, but 
to convince. He never sacrifices force of statement, or 
vigor of argument to beauty of expression. He aims not 
so much at the grace of rhetoric, as at the overwhelming 
power of logic. His words are simple and unpretentious, 
his style clear, nervous, and full of energy. Perspicuous 
in statement, luminous in its reasoning, his speech is not 
unfrequently enlivened with an incisive sarcasm, which 
cuts through the specious veil of sophistry like a Damascus 
blade ; and it sometimes rises into a vehement torrent of 
fiery invective against those who have outraged right and 
justice. Mr. Smith's intellect is of that order which 
penetrates to the core of a subject, and, seizing the pivotal 
idea with unrelenting grasp, never lets it go. Issues, or 
phases, plausible, it may be, but only inferior, have no 
power to turn him aside. Endowed with a sagacious 
sense, gifted with a rare tact, his mind stored with the 
treasures of general knowledge, as well as of legal learn- 
ing, shreAvd, practical, discerning, genial in temperament, 
warm in friendship, it may be said in a word, that the 
representative of the Second District of Albany, will 
always attract attention in a deliberative body. 



JOSHUA SMITH. 



There are men who, though quiet and unobtrusive in 
their habits, are, nevertheless, calm, reflective and. saga- 
cious. Perhaps their voices may not often be heard in the 
forum ; they may not enter the inner circles of the political 
arena; they may not speak in flowing periods through 
the press ; but they read, and think, and form opinions 
to which they give force at the ballot box — opinions from 
which they are not easily moved, because they have 
passed them through the mint of their own minds, and 
stamped them with the signet of their own individuality. 
Such men are our farmers, in the main, who represent the 
agricultural interests of our State ; of their number is Mr. 
Smith, who represents the First District of Delaware 
county. His life has been an uneventful one, so far as 
extraordinary occurrences are concerned. Never seeking 
to mingle with the great mass of people who are eager 
for gain and eminence, he has chosen a course which has 
undoubtedly brought full as much happiness and satisfac- 
tion, as he would have experienced, had he chosen more 
public pursuits. 

Mr. Smith's father, who came from Rhode Island, in 
1798, to Tompkins, was a miller by occupation. He gave 
his son the usual opportunities of the district school, at the 
same time educating him in the processes of labor. After 
Joshua had arrived at a proper age, he began teaching, 
and, in that manner, increased his pecuniary resources suffi- 
ciently to be able to continue his studies during the summer 
seasons. In 1846, when he was twenty-five years old, he 
purchased the mill property belonging to his father, and 
conducted the business until 1858, when he disposed of the 
mill, and bought a small farm near by, on which he now 



364 LIFE SKETCHES. 

resides. In 1862, the nomination for Member of Assembly, 
on the Republican ticket, was offered him, but he declined 
it, from a sense of duty. The next year he was appointed 
Postmaster at Cannonsville. He held that position until 
1866, when he was brought to the political block and 
decapitated by President Johxsox, for reasons which are 
apparent to any one who was observant of the times when 
that event occurred. In other words, Mr. Smith was not 
mercenary enough to surrender his opinions to a policy 
diametrically opposed to his ideas of right. The Repub- 
licans of his district elected him, last fall, to his place in 
the House by a majority of one thousand and twenty-five. 



DANIEL G. STARR. 



Mr. Starr was elected to the Assembly to fill the 
vacanpy occasioned by the death of Hon. A. J. Baldwin, 
who was a member from Sullivan county, in 1866, and 
was reelected for 1867, but died soon after his election. 
Governor Fenton ordered a special election to transpire, 
December 18th, 1866. The Democrats put Mr. Starr in 
nomination and elected him. He is a native of Fallsburgh, 
Sullivan county, New York, where he was born, on the 
twenty-first of January, 1837. His youth was spent on 
a farm, where, by vigorous toil, his physical powers were 
developed in such a way as to enable him to bear the 
tax which an after sedentary life Avould impose upon him. 
The rudimental studies which formed the .basis of his 
education, were followed by higher academic branches, 
which he pursued, for a year, at the Charlotteville Semi- 
nary, Schoharie county, an institution which, at that time, 
was at the height of prosperity. Before entering upon 



DANIEL G. STARR. 365 

his professional studies, Mr. Starr went to Hampton, a 
small village in Madison county, Illinois, situated on the 
Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, where he 
taught the village school for some months. Whether or 
not his object may have been to increase the amount of 
his finances, it is certain that the practical application 
of what he had learned, more fully prepared him for after 
life. At the end of a year he returned home, and, during 
the following year, entered into business speculations. In 
November, 1857, he began the study of law, in the office 
of Hon. A. C. Niven, at Monticello, New York. Sub- 
sequently spending a term at the Albany Law School, 
he was admitted to practice, in April, 1861, and there- 
upon settled in Monticello, where he has a lucrative 
business, and is looked upon as a lawyer of promise. 
Being a comparatively young man, and unambitious for 
public notice, his life has been unmarked by thrilling 
episodes. He has been Clerk of the Board of Supervisors 
of Sullivan county, four years; and, in 1866, was elected 
Justice of the Peace. In the House, he is serving on the 
Committee on Claims, and Sub-committee of the Whole. 

Mr. Starr has always been a Democrat, and has 
scrupulously indorsed the platforms and candidates of 
his party. 



ORSON STILES. 



Mr. Stiles received a, classical education, having grad- 
uated from Union College, in 1833. After the completion 
of his collegiate course, he read law in the office of the 
Hon. Deodatus Wright, at Amsterdam, New York, and 
commenced practice, in 1837, at Irving, a village situated 
in Chautauqua county on Cattaraugus Creek, near its 
entrance into the lake, where he continued to reside until 
the autumn of 1849. As an Attorney and Counselor, he 
was, even at that period, recognized as a gentleman of fine 
scholarly and legal attainments. He received the political 
trust of County Clerk from the Whig party in 1850, and 
thereupon removed to Mayville, the county seat, where he 
remained until the close of his term. He then selected 
Fredonia, as his place of residence, and has been a citizen 
of that village ever since. Possessing, as he does, excel- 
lent qualifications as a financier, he has been largely 
interested in the banking business during the last ten 
years ; he is regarded as a sagacious, upright operator. 
In local politics, Mr. Stiles is looked upon with great 
confidence. In 1865, the Republicans of the Second Dis- 
trict of Chautauqua county, elected him to the Assembly 
by a majority of 1504. In I860, they decided to make the 
matter more emphatic by reelecting him by an increased 
majority of 2,406. 

Upon the great question of Reconstruction, he is in 
complete sympathy with Congress, relative to its policy. 
Believing that the National Legislature, after a careful 
investigation of the social state of the South, has finally 
provided a plan by which justice to the government can 
be maintained, and magnanimity and mercy displayed 
toward the conquered, he holds that it is the duty of 
every citizen, both North and South, to sustain that plan. 



ORSON STILES. 367 

We quote the closing portion of a speech delivered by 
him in the Assembly, January 10th, 18G7 : 

" The truth is, reconstruction has been made difficult by the 
attempts to do it so carefully that no one should suffer, and no one 
should be offended. The rebels themselves have been surprised at 
the great care which has been taken to override the laws against 
treason, and to reinstate them to places which they had forfeited 
by all the rules of justice and all the precedents of the past. Did 
Jefferson Davis suppose when he was overtaken in his attempts 
to effect an ignominious escape, that there was anything in reserve 
for him but an ignominious death ? Did he suppose that an 
administration, or a party, which had expended their best efforts 
and their best blood to save the country, and to justify and vindi- 
cate a republican form of government, would consent that these 
great investments should be utterly wasted, and that no security 
would be exacted for the future ? No, sir, he had no such expec- 
tations. And as the war progressed, and one stronghold after 
another gave way ; when Grant was reaching forward to grasp 
the pillars of the temple, and it was being demonstrated that the 
rebellion could not result in a successful revolution, he sought most 
earnestly for the means of personal security, and inquired anxiously 
for the rocks and the mountains. All those men who had furnished 
the rebellion with brains, and given it life and character, expected 
nothing less than the visitation of retributive justice. They had 
heard the thunders of the law issuing from the highest places, and 
they had no reason to expect anything but the speedy coming of 
the judgment. They remembered that the man who now occu- 
pies the chair of the presidency had said, and repeatedly, during 
the whole progress of the war, 'that treason must be made odious, 
that traitors must be .punished and impoverished,' and they 
knew that the loyal heart of the north responded to these senti- 
ments. They expected nothing but the prompt administration of 
justice and the strict enforcement of the laws. 

" Sir, we are embarrassed to-day, because these men have been 
disappointed. If they had not been, the question of reconstruc- 
tion would have been long since settled and the country would 
have been at peace. Had Mr. Johnson stood by Congress — had 
he stood by himself — had he not become intoxicated by his acci- 



368 LIFE SKETCHES. 

dental advancement, and sought to make as well as to execute the 
law, we would not be asking ourselves whether the result of 
the war should be a triumph or a defeat, but the assurance would 
be sent forward to all the coming generations of this nation, that 
while we had the means and the energy to secure a victory, we 
also had the courage and the discretion to improve our advantages 
to the future growth and safety of our country. And this is our 
duty. The hereafter will not forgive us for doing less. 

" Now, sir, I do not wish to be understood as counseling the 
use of extreme measures. Let them all be tempered by mercy, 
with enough of vigor and earnestness in them to secure the future 
against the possible repetition of these terrible scenes. Congress 
in its anxiety to effect just this end has submitted these amend- 
ments to the Constitution, and the people at the recent elections 
have indorsed them with an earnestness which we cannot misun- 
derstand. Led by no man, they have thought and acted for 
themselves. Congress cannot now recede. When it changes its 
position, it will be an advance, and the people will follow in close 
and solid column. 

"The assent of the requisite number of States to these amend- 
ments may not be secured. But I see in this delay or uncertainty 
no reason why they should be abandoned. Would they prefer 
territorial governments ? So be it. This alternative, if we will, 
they cannot reject or resist. The north has the power to dictate 
terms, and it is her duty to exercise it. All loyal men north and 
south demand it. The real interest of the rebels themselves 
demands it. The freedmen demand it. Aud whether the south 
shall accept or reject, let us be found doing our whole duty, trust- 
ing the issues to that kind Providence who has led us so carefully 
through all the dark ways of the past." 

Mr. Stiles was born at Amsterdam New York, in 
January, 1813, where he spent most of his youth in pre- 
paration for college. 

His legal acumen, ami his knowledge of finance, have 
eminently fitted him for public trusts which have, on 
numerous occasions, been reposed in him, and for his 
duties as Chairman of the Committee on Banks. 



JAMES SUFFERN. 



Mr. Suffern has always been a resident of the town 
of Ramapo, Rockland county, New York. He is sixty- 
two years of age, and, for more than forty years of that 
time, he has been a zealous and efficient worker in the 
Democratic party, adhering to it through all of its defeats 
as well as its triumphs. He is an intelligent and highly 
respected citizen, who has continuously manifested an 
interest in the affairs of his town and county. The 
citizens of Ramapo have elected him to the office of 
Justice of the Peace so many times, as to entitle him to 
a " life-membership." He held the appointment of Super" 
intendent of the Poor, from 1836 to 1848. He also 
represents his town in the Board of Supervisors. 

Mr. Sufferx is a trustworthy farmer ; though he has 
been an industrious toiler, he has not neglected to inform 
himself in relation to public affairs, and he holds to his 
political principles rather from conviction than from mere 
policy. His ancestry was mainly Democratic. His pater- 
nal grandfather, John Suffern, who died in 1835, at the 
age of ninety-five years, represented that portion of 
Orange county which now comprises the county of Rock- 
land, in the Fifth Session of the Assembly of New York, 
held at Poughkeepsie in 1781, '82, and was a member of 
the State Senate for five successive terms. 

In former days, Mr. Suffern held rank in the State 
Militia, from First Lieutenant to Lieutenant-Colonel. He 
was a very good military disciplinarian ; and, when he was 
Captain, he had oommand of a company which was the 
most difficult to be managed, of any other in the regiment. 
During the administration of Governor Wright, in 1845, 
47 



370 LIFE SKETCHES. 

he resigned his Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and thus retired 
from military life. 

This is his first term in the Assembly; thus far, he 
has exhibited great industry, and a disposition to execute 
the trusts confided to him with the highest integrity of 
purpose. 



HENRY F. TAR BOX. 



Henry Fisk Tarbox has a soldier's record — a record 
which places him on a nation's roll of honor; and it is 
with pleasure that we take this opportunity of alluding to 
his participation in the grand work which, through blood, 
and tears, and agonies, has come to a glorious consumma- 
tion — the redemption of the Republic. The Spartan 
mothers were accustomed to take their sons about to go 
into battle, and, placing their shields in their hands, say : 
" Either this, or upon this." And American mothers, and 
wives, and sisters, for four awful years, responded "Amen !" 
to the heroic sentiment. The people will remember, from 
generation to generation, the military bravery of the 
living and the dead. The latter have given their highest 
treasures for the salvation of our institutions ; and, though 
they may lie in graves far away from home, their deeds 
of valor are undecaying monuments. We make this 
reference because Mr. Tarbox's brother, a member of 
the same regiment, was killed while leading his men in a 
charge upon the enemy. 

Mr. Tarbox is the son of Henry and Julia Tarbox, 
and is twenty-seven years of age. His father, a man of 
intelligence, was a bitter opposer of slavery. His mother 
was a descendant of David Brainard, and all her rela- 



HENRY F. TARBOX. 371 

tives are radical Rejrablicans. He spent two years at the 
Genesee College, at Lima, New York, diligently pursuing 
classical studies, and then commenced reading law. He 
was admitted to practice, in November, 1864, since which 
time he has followed his profession, at Batavia, New 
York. Prior to his admission to the Bar, he assisted, in 
1862, in raising and organizing the 108th Regiment, New 
York Volunteers, personally enlisting over forty men for 
that regiment. He received a commission as Second 
Lieutenant of Company C ; and his brother, D. B. Tar- 
box, was also commissioned to the same rank in Company 
B. Each led his company in the battle of Antietam, 
which transpired within less than a month after the regi- 
ment was mustered into service. His brother fell in 
that fight. Mr. Tarbox remained with his regiment until 
he was so far disabled by disease, that he was discharged 
by an order from the War Department. By virtue of a 
good constitution, he afterward so far recovered from his 
disability, as to be able to accept the position of Assistant 
Paymaster. A year and a half subsequently, he resigned, 
and, after completing his studies, entered upon his profes- 
sion, as previously stated. After his nomination for 
Member of Assembly, Mr. Tarbox took the stump, and 
rendered essential service to his party in his county. 
The Republicans gave him a majority of 1,400 over his 
competitor, who was a Conservative Republican. He is 
an active and influential Member of the House, and is a 
member of the Committees on Internal Affairs of Towns 
and Counties, and Colleges, Academies and Common 
Schools. 



SAMUEL H. TORKEY. 



Mr. Torret's father was born in Connecticut, and 
came to this State, when a boy; he received a good 
academic education, and settled, in early life, in the town 
of Italy, Yates county, New York, where he resided 
several years amid the solitude of the forest, without 
another white inhabitant in the township, and where Mr. 
Torrey was born, July 4, 1816. 

Mr. Torrey is a self-made man. He left home at the 
age of fourteen to carve his own fortune. He acquired a 
good classical education, and, in the year 1837, entered 
the law office of Messrs. "Wilson & Lester, in Canan- 
daigua, where he pursued a course of legal studies, which 
he completed in the office of John L. Talcott, Esq., of 
Buffalo, and was admitted to the Bar at the Spring Term 
of the Supreme Court, in the year 1841, and entered 
immediately upon the practice of his profession at Rush- 
ville, Yates county, and soon gained a successful and 
lucrative practice, and ranked well in his profession as a 
careful and judicious lawyer. 

He is now, somewhat, extensively engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits, which are more congenial to his tastes than 
the practice of his profession, and has, by his business 
energy and skill, accumulated a large landed estate, to 
the cultivation and improvement of which he now devotes 
most of his time. 

Mr. Torrey has always taken a lively interest in the 
political affairs of the country, and now exercises a 
wide political influence in his locality. Casting his first 
Presidential vote for Henry Clay, he remained an ardent 
Whig, until the formation of the Republican party, with 
which he has acted to the present time. 



DAVID W. TRAVIS. 373 

He has held town or county office almost continuously 
for the last twenty years, and is now the supervisor of his 
town. In 1847, he was the Whig candidate for Member 
of Assembly in Yates county, and was a delegate to the 
Baltimore Convention that renominated Mr. Lincoln to 
the Presidency. 

Mr. Toerey was elected to the present Assembly from 
the Second District of Ontario county, over Robeet D. 
Cook, Esq., Democrat, by eleven hundred and ninety-one 
majority. He is on the Committees on Claims, and Aflairs 
of Villages. Mr. Toeeet is a straightforward, industri- 
ous Member of the House. 



DAVID W. TRAVIS. 



Me. Teavis was originally a Whig. Though not very 
ambitious for office, in 1853 he was nominated for the 
office of Assemblyman, but, in consequence of the running 
of a third candidate, his Democratic opponent was elected 
by a small majority. During the session of the Legis- 
lature of 1854, an act was passed authorizing the election 
of a Police Justice for the village of Peekskill. Mr. 
Teavis was nominated for that office by the Whigs, and 
indorsed by the Americans, who had not, as yet, assumed 
the shape of a distinct party. The result was his election 
by a flattering majority. Sympathizing with the Ameri- 
cans to a certain extent, he acted with them, until their 
more mature operations as an independent organization. 
He then gave them a parting " grip," and returned to the 
Whigs. 

In the year 1855, he was a delegate from his district 
to the Whig Convention held at Syracuse, and was 



374 LIFE SKETCHES. 

present at the formation of the Republican party. He 
acted with a majority of the "Whigs in joining the 
Republicans, and he has continued true to the organiza- 
tion, in its successes and its defeats. Although the 
nomination for office was, at various times, offered to 
him, yet he declined to be a candidate, though his elec- 
tion seemed certain, in case he should consent to run. 
Last summer, Westchester county was re-districted, inas- 
much as the census had shown some changes in its 
population ; and, though it was thought that there would 
be some political changes in consequence thereof, yet Mr. 
Travis, who ran as candidate for Member of Assembly, 
was elected by over six hundred majority. He is on the 
Committee on Commerce and Navigation. 

He is forty-two years old, and is a native of Cortlanclt, 
Westchester county, New York. His father was a farmer 
by occupation, and was of English descent, and his mother 
was of German ancestry. He was the youngest of a large 
family. His youth was spent in working on a farm, and 
attending the district school during the winter, until he 
was sixteen years old. But a farmer's life had no very 
attractive features for him, and, therefore, he very wisely 
decided to abandon it. It requires a peculiar kind of 
pluck to face the freezing sleet of early spring, the 110° 
of July and August, and the nipping frosts of fall ; and if 
one has ever so misty visions of a life more congenial, of 
course, it is better to "fold the tent and quietly steal 
away;" for the true key to success in any occupation, is 
to have the heart in every effort attempted. 

At the age of sixteen, Mr. Travis attended the Peeks- 
kill Academy, and continued there as a student, for about 
four years. He then had an inclination to attend the 
Military Academy at West Point, but, owing to the objec- 
tions urged by his parents, he abandoned the idea, and 
commenced the study of law in the office of William & 



DAVID W. TRAVIS. 375 

T. Nelson, Esq'rs, able practitioners, at Peekskill. He 
was admitted to practice as an attorney, in 1846, and as 
Solicitor in Chancery, under the old Constitution, the 
winter following. He commenced practice at Peekskill, 
in April, 1847 ; and, by hard efforts among old established 
lawyers, he has gathered to himself a fine business. What- 
ever he has accomplished, he has wrought by unflinching 
industry, conscious that toil will meet with due compensa- 
tion. 

Mr. Travis has always been a zealous worker in the 
field of politics. He is almost invariably present at the con- 
ventions of his party, and has a measure of influence in 
them which is never disregarded by his fellow citizens. 
In campaigns and at the polls, he determinedly works for 
the success of the ticket, and in the Legislature he is 
known as a keen-sighted member. Mr. Travis is a man 
of a great deal of nervous vitality, and throws all of his 
powers into the accomplishment of a measure. 



JOHN VANDENBERG. 



Mr. Vandenberg was born in the town of Coxsackie, 
Greene county, New York, on the 31st day of July, 1828. 
As his name indicates (which, Anglicised, means "from the 
Hill"), he is of Dutch descent, and no douht feels proud of 
the fact that he belongs to a race whose history is so illus- 
trative of devotion to civil and religious liberty, and whose 
character exhibits traits which must ever command the 
admiration of the world. He attended the " Coxsackie 
Academy" during the most prosperous days of that insti- 
tution, and, as a student, played his part with credit to 
himself and to the school. 

Early associations, which always have much to do with 
the formation of character, and the shaping of after life, 
had, in his case, a tendency to influence in the right direc- 
tion. He chose the profession of the law, and jn-osecuted 
its study, for the most part, in a law office in his native 
town. After his admission to the Bar, he removed to Con- 
stantia, Oswego county, where, after a brief residence, he 
was elected, first, Town Superintendent of Schools, and 
then Justice of the Peace, and where he gained a fair 
share of reputation as a lawyer. 

In 1855, he removed to Clyde, Wayne county, where, 
by his industry, he has increased his legal reputation; 
and by his urbanity, has gained to himself many warm, 
personal friends. In 1865, he was* elected Member of 
Assembly, from the First Assembly District of that county, 
by the Republican party, whose principles he holds, and, 
on occasion, ably advocates, and to whose ascendency, in 
that county, he has largely contributed. In a Legislature 
embracing many eminent men, his ability was soon recog- 
nized. He was not a frequent debater, but he spoke to 



JOHN VANDENBERG. 377 

the point and commanded attention. He was Chairman 
of the Committee on the Internal Affairs of Towns and 
Counties, and served also as a member of the Committee 
on the Manufacture of Salt. Mr. Vandenberg was 
elected to the present Legislature by an increased 
majority, and has thus far maintained the reputation 
which he acquired during his previous term. 

His course, during the rebellion, was decided and con- 
sistent. In behalf of treason, whose object was the per- 
petuation of slavery, and the attainment and retention of 
power through the destruction of our government, he had 
no excuses nor sympathy to give. For the triumph of the 
government, he contributed to the extent of his ability 
and means. And now, that triumph having been attained, 
he believes that " treason must be made odious, and 
traitors must be punished." 

In person, Mr. Vandenberg is about six feet high; 
and it is not flattery to say that his general appearance is 
decidedly prepossessing. No one is more easy of access 
than he, and no one more averse to ostentation. His 
attachment to old friends is strong ; and, by his affable, 
genial manner, he is always gaining new ones. He does 
not court, but rather shuns, notoriety; and the honors of 
office have come to him unsought. 

48 



JAMES VAN VALKENBURG. 



The member from Broome county was born in Oneonta, 
Otsego county, New York, in 1820. His grandfather was 
one of the old residents of Albany, from which city his 
father removed to Otsego when a young man, where he 
followed the occupation of a firmer. Mr. Van Valken- 
burg spent his early years on his father's farm, receiving 
only a common school education. On arriving at man- 
hood, he engaged in the woolen manufacturing business 
at Oneonta, and afterward at Bainbridge, Chenango 
county, following it until 1849, when he embarked in the 
manufacture of grain-cleaning machinery, doing a large 
and successful business, for several years. In 1852, he 
removed to Binghamton, Broome county, which has since 
been his place of residence. The year following, he 
established the Binghamton Standard, a temperance and 
political weekly newspaper, which he conducted with 
ability and industry, for six years. At the time of start- 
ing the Standard, all the county offices were in the hands 
of Democrats; but, in a very few years, a change was 
effected, in which the influence of the Standard was unmis- 
takably felt. This paper was independent in politics, and 
took strong grounds against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill ; 
advocated the nomination of Fremont for President in 
1856, and gave him a hearty support throughout that 
campaign. 

Mr. Van Valkenburg was thoroughly conversant with 
national and State politics, and the influence of his paper, 
in effecting numerous and important changes, was appar- 
ent. He was educated in the Democratic school of 
politics, but left it on account of the issues of the 
Wilmot Proviso. He was a supporter of Mr. Van Buren 
in 1848, and Mr. PI ale in 1852. He has always been a 



JAMES VAN VALKENBURG. 379 

strict temperance man, and a zealous laborer in the cause. 
From youth, he has been a working man in the party to 
which he belonged, never asking for office of any kind ; 
and his presence in the House is entirely due to the earnest 
solicitations of his many and warm friends. 

In 1859, the Standard office was disposed of by Mr. 
Van Valkenburg, his time being occupied in perfecting 
and putting in operation a machine for dressing rice, of 
which he was the inventor. The occurrence of the war 
rendered this invention useless, no rice being brought into 
market ; but his machine was a success, and it is believed 
that it will yet come into general use, and prove to be an 
important labor-saving implement. 

Mr. Van Valkenburg received the appointment of 
Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue for Broome Co., 
in the Twenty-sixth District, in 1862, a position he ably 
and creditably filled until the fall of 1866, discharging the 
onerous duties of the office without fear or favor. He was 
not a supporter of President Johnson's reconstruction 
policy; on the contrary, he was a staunch supporter of 
Congress. Judge Wells, the District Assessor, had been 
removed to give place to Mr. Frear, a virulent opposer 
of Mr. Lincoln's administration, and Mr. Van Valken- 
burg, understanding that he could not retain his office 
and principles too, tendered his resignation, determined 
to take the stump for the Union cause and ticket, which 
he did with good effect. 

At the next County Convention of the Union party in 
Broome county, Mr. Van Valkenburg was selected as the 
most suitable candidate to represent the county in the Leg- 
islature, being elected by over eighteen hundred majority. 
He is a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. 

At the present time, Mr. Van Valkenburg resides on 
his farm, about a mile and a half from the village of 
Binghamton, and is engaged in the insurance business. 



ALFRED WAGSTAFF. Jr. 



Alfred Wagstaff, Jr., was born in the city of New 
York, March 21st, 1844; he now resides at "West Islip, 
Suffolk county, New York. He is of English and French 
extraction. His maternal ancestors (the Du Boises) came 
to this country from Holland (having fled hence from 
France) at the period of the persecution of the Huguenots, 
and settled on the banks of the Hudson river. Many of 
them have held high positions of honor, and have been 
noted for their ability, honesty and integrity. 

Mr. Wagstaff received a classical education, and grad- 
uated from the Columbia College Law School, May 18th, 
1866, receiving the degree of LL. B. He was admitted, 
in the Second Judicial District, as a member of the Bar 
of the State of New York, and he is now practicing his 
profession in New York city. He was commissioned 
Colonel of the 16th Regiment, New York State National 
Guard, on the 19th of June, 1863, serving with his regi- 
ment in the Brooklyn Draft Riots. In the summer of 
1864, he was Avith his regiment in the United States ser- 
vice, and had command of the Staten Island forts. He 
was commissioned First Lieutenant in the 91st Regiment 
of New York Veteran Volunteers, November 12th, 1864, 
and was detailed to the staff of General Morris, and 
subsequently as Commissary of Prisoners, .and left Fort 
McIIenry for Virginia. The following letter to the Gov- 
ernor, recommending his promotion, is commendatoiy in 
its terms : 

To the Hon. R. E. Fenton, Governor of the State of New York: 

Having understood that Lieutenant A. "Wagstaff of the 91st 
Veteran Volunteers, has been recommended by Colonel Tarbull 



ALFRED WAGSTAFF, JR. 381 

and Lieutenant-Colonel Donelson for promotion to a Majority in that 
regiment, I take much pleasure in adding my recommendation of 
him from personal knowledge of the position. 

Lieutenant Wagstaff has served on my staff since he was com- 
missioned in the regiment, in November last, and is remarkable for 
his intelligence, quickness, and a good conception of military duties ; 
and whilst I shall regret his loss as a staff officer, I recommend him 
to your Excellency's honorable consideration. 

W. W. MORRIS, 

Brevet Brigadier- General. 

February, 15, 1865. 

Having been promoted Major, in February, 1865 he was 
Chief of Staff of General Crawford, and served in the 
Army of the Potomac until the close of the war. He has 
since received a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonelcy. 

Mr. Wagstaff was a Delegate from Suffolk county to, 
and one of the Vice-Presidents of, the Syracuse Conven- 
tion, in 1866, which was his first connection with any 
political party. He was nominated for Member of Assem- 
bly by the Republican Union pai-ty, and elected by four 
hundred and eighty-six majority. He is Chairman of the 
Committee of Militia and Public Defense, and a member 
of the Committee on Joint Library. 

He is of tall, commanding stature, and dignified pres- 
ence, and possesses a vigorous, cultivated mind, and a 
retentive memory ; he has a keen sense of the ludicrous, 
and a bright wit, which, together with an unending store 
of pleasant reminiscences, render lrim a most agreeable 
and entertaining companion ; and is possessed of an 
unwearying activity, intense energy and perseverance. 
Mr. Wagstaff is a ready debater, is quick at repartee, 
caustic in sarcasm, and laconic in his arguments. 

He has that frank, open-hearted generosity and noble 
unselfishness which make him, at once, the popular com- 
mander and beloved fellow-officer. He also possesses 
sufficient self-confidence and practical experience, joined 



382 LIFE SKETCHES. 

with a quick perception and instantaneous decision, to rise 
to a distinguished eminence, as a military commander. 
Mr. Wagstaff ranks well in the Assembly, and is what is 
termed a working member. 



SMITH M. WEED. 



Mr. "Weed is one of the young men of the Assembly, 
and ranks, in ability and influence, among the first men in 
the House. He was born in Bellmont, Franklin county, 
New York, July 26th, 1833, and is, consequently, now in 
his 34th year. His father was born in New Hampshire. 
His mother was a descendant of a Revolutionary soldier, 
and a Quakeress. 

Mr. Weed was liberally educated, having graduated at 
the Harvard College Law School, in 1857, and immediately 
commenced the practice of law at Plattsburgh, Clinton 
county, where he now resides. His first appearance in 
public life was in the Assembly of 1865. Here his talents 
were at once recognized, and he took a leading part in all 
the measures of that session. 

When the Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States abolishing slavery came up for ratification 
in the Assembly, Mr. Weed took ground in its favor, and 
made an able speech in advocacy of the measure. His 
views at that time were somewhat in advance of some of 
his colleagues in that body, who severely criticised him 
for his course. But he was vindicated by the action of 
his party, at their State Convention, held the ensuing fall. 
His usefulness as a legislator was so apparent, that a 
general desire was expressed among his friends for his 
return, and he was reelected in the fall of 1865. The 



SMITH M. WEED. 383 

prominence he Lad gained secured for him the Democratic 
nomination for Speaker of the House, and he received the 
full vote of his party for that position. During that 
session he was a Member of the Committee on Railroads. 
Although, in a minority, he succeeded by good manage- 
ment in securing the passage of several important bills 
affecting the northern section of the State. 

In the fall of 1866, he was again a candidate for reelec- 
tion, defeating his popular opponent by seventy majority, 
in a disti'ict that gave the Republican ticket a majority of 
one hundred and twenty-seven. He is now a Member 
of the Committee on Railroads. He was also elected 
President of the village of Plattsburgh, in 1865, and 
unanimously reelected in 1866. 

Mr. Weed may justly be ranked among the most 
promising young men in the State. He is a good scholar, 
a clear thinker, and a ready debater. Though struggling 
in a minority, throughout his legislative career, he has 
developed rare qualities for leadership. He has never 
failed to secure and maintain the respect of his opponents, 
and to win the admiration of his friends. And if his 
past record may be taken as a criterion for the future, 
he has but just commenced a useful and successful career. 



SAMUEL R. WELLES. 



That branch of the Welles family from which the 
member from Seneca descended, removed from Hebron, 
Connecticut, to this State about the year 1800. His 
father, the venerable Doctor Gardner Welles, located 
in Seneca county in the year 1810, where he still resides, 
in the active practice of his profession. He was a Surgeon 
in one of the New York Volunteer Regiments, during the 
war of 1812, and a member of the Legislature from Seneca 
county, for the year 1839. 

Mr. Welles was born in Junius (now Waterloo), 
February 23d, 1825. He entered Geneva College, in 1841, 
and graduated in 1845. Adopting the profession of 
Medicine, he attended lectures at Geneva Medical College 
and Buffalo Medical College, receiving the degree of M. 
D., at the latter institution, in 1848. He also attended a 
course of lectures in the Jefferson Medical College, at 
Philadelphia, in the winter of 1849, '50. In the spring of 
1850, Doctor Welles commenced the practice of his 
profession in Waterloo, where he now resides. He has 
always acted with the Democratic party, and has been 
elected by them to the various offices of Town Superin- 
tendent of Common Schools, Trustee of the Village, 
Coroner, and Supervisor in '59 and '60. In January, 1862, 
he entered the military service as acting Assistant Sur- 
geon, in the 61st Regiment New York State Volunteers, 
and upon the resignation of the Surgeon, on account of 
continued ill health, Doctor Welles received the com- 
mission for that position, early in March of that year. He 
was with the regiment during its stay in Camp California ; 
attended it on the reconnoissance to the Rappahannock 
under General Howard ; participated in the siege of 



SAMUEL R. "WELLES. 385 

Yorktown, followed the rebels in their retreat from the 
latter place, but too late to take part in the battle of 
Williamsburgh. The regiment was actively engaged in 
the battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines, and suffered 
severely ; but it won for itself a noble reputation, under 
the leadership of Colonel Francis C. Barlow, (afterwards 
Major-General, and now Secretary of State.) During 
and after this engagement, as well as in the actions at 
Allen's Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp and 
Charles City Cross Roads, in all of which the regiment 
participated and suffei'ed numerous casualties, the entire 
care of the wounded devolved upon Doctor Welles who 
was the only Medical officer with the regiment. The 
wounded of the 61st Regiment at the battle of Charles 
City Cross Roads, which took place at dusk, June 
30th, were conveyed to different temporary hospitals. 
Doctor Welles having attended to the immediate wants 
of those who were at the one established nearest the field, 
repaired, about ten o'clock in the evening, to a hospital 
about a mile distant, where he remained in the perform- 
ance of his duties, until after midnight, when starting to 
return, he was misdirected into a road which led him 
directly within the rebel lines. He was suddenly con- 
fronted by three of the picket guard, caused to dismount, 
taken to General Longstreet's quarters, and, in the morn- 
ing, sent with some sixty others to Richmond, and assigned 
a place in the officers' quarters, in the famous Libby 
prison. The second day after his arrival, he was, upon 
his request, allowed to take charge of a ward of our sick 
and wounded. In the discharge of that duty, as well as 
the scanty convenience and limited allowance of medical 
supplies would permit, he was occupied for three weeks, 
at the expiration of which time he was permitted to leave 
Richmond, in company with a detachment of wounded 
men, destined for northern hospitals. After assisting in 
49 



386 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the embarkation of the wounded at City Point, he rejoined 
his regiment at Harrison's Landing. Of the acceptability 
of the service rendered by our Smrgeons to the wounded 
and suffering of Richmond, there can be no doubt ; and 
that Doctor Welles was no whit behind his professional 
brethren, in his attention to those needing his care, we 
have the testimony of the Rev. Dr. Marks who was a 
Chaplain in the 63d Pennsylvania Regiment, and a prisoner 
in Richmond. In his book entitled " The Peninsular 
Campaign," after speaking of some kindness done to a 
Pennsylvania soldier he says : 

" I have not met Doctor Welles since those memorable days, 
and know not where he now may be ; but I rejoice to say that he 
is one of the most humane and self sacrificing of Surgeons." 

Soon after his return to his regiment, Doctor Welles 
tendered his resignation, on account of illness which pre- 
vented his further continuance in the service, and received 
an honorable discharge. 

The uncertainty which prevailed during, and for a short 
time after the " Seven days' fight," as to the condition of 
the army, the positive absence of any reliable information, 
and the conflicting rumors which agitated every com- 
munity, made the reception of news which gave assurance 
of the safety of the army, an occasion of general rejoic- 
ing. The return of Doctor Welles to his home, who had 
been reported dead, was made the occasion of many pleas- 
ing manifestations of respect and esteem from his fellow 
citizens. During his connection with the regiment, he 
had formed many strong and pleasant attachments, he had 
striven faithfully to do his Avhole duty toward those 
placed under his charge, and he left the service with 
regret. As an evidence that these kind feelings were 
reciprocated, we may state that a short time after reach- 
ing home he was the recipient of a heavy silver goblet, 



SAMUEL R. WELLES. 887 

the inscription upon which showed that it was the gift 
of the officers and men of the 61st Regiment, to their 
Surgeon, as a testimonial of their respect and esteem. 
During the fall of 1862, he occupied himself actively in 
promoting enlistments, and addressed several public meet- 
ings in different parts of the county, for that object. In 
the spring of 1863, he was elected Supervisor and made 
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors ; he was reelected 
in 1864, '65, '66. The duties of this office during the war 
were onerous and responsible ; that they were faithfully 
and satisfactorily discharged, his repeated election is a 
sufficient evidence. Mr. Welles believed that the pro- 
fession of the Democratic faith was not inconsistent with 
loyalty to the government and to the country, and, in that 
faith, from the commencement to the close of the war, he 
worked earnestly to meet the demands made upon his 
town by the government, and gave a cordial and sincere 
support to the country in its efforts to suppress the rebel- 
lion. In the fall of 1866, he was made the candidate of 
the Democratic party for the office of Member of Assem- 
bly, and was elected by a majority of 532, being about 
200 over the average majority on the State ticket. 



STEPHEN H. WENDOVER. 



Mr. Wendover was, until recently, interested in the 
forwarding business ; lie represents the third generation 
of his family continuously engaged therein. His grand- 
father, who was a native and resident of New York city 
at the outbreak of the Revolution, was related to Peter 
Wendover, one of the framers of the first State Constitu- 
tion of New York, and primarily suggested the idea of 
the National Flag as it now is. 

Mr. Wendover was born in the town of Stuyvesant, 
Columbia county, New York, on the 28th day of July, 
1831. His boyhood was unbroken by any stern neces- 
sities, or pinching privations; his father, a gentleman of 
competence, educated him with a view to business, and 
gave him all the facilities necessary to prepare him for 
commercial pursuits. Placing his son in the Kinderhook 
Academy, an institution situated in Kinderhook, Columbia 
county, New York, he gave him all of the benefits which 
that school afforded. In 1848, Mr. Wexdovee, then 
seventeen years of age, left the Academy, and became a 
clerk in his father's business, to which he succeeded in 
1855, and which he conducted with fine business skill. 

Mr. Wendover never, until the autumn of 1866, allowed 
his name to be used for the candidacy for office ; but, at 
that time, his Republican friends, in view of the political 
strength of the probable competitor, urged him to run for 
the place which he now holds, to which he was elected by 
seventy-two majority. He is serving on the Committee 
on Commerce and Navigation. Mr. Wendover, on first 
acquaintance, is somewhat reserved ; but among his 
friends he is genial ; and is uniformly polite to everybody. 
He is emphatically a discerning, large-hearted man. 



MARSHALL F. WHITE. 



Hoosick forms one of the northern tier of towns of 
Rensselaer county, New York. Its scenery is picturesque 
and beautiful, and its surface consists of wild regions of 
mountains, and narrow, fertile valleys, which are skirted 
by precipitous hillsides. In the summer season, the scenic 
variety is enchanting ; and, in winter, there is a grandeur 
about the lofty mountain peaks, which cannot be forgotten. 
Scotchmen who have visited that section, say that it more 
closely resembles the scenery of Scotland, than any other 
which they have witnessed in this country. This is Mr. 
White's native place, he having been born in Hoosick 
Falls, July 23d, 1827, of New England parentage. We 
have no knowledge of the incidents of his youth, except 
that he was an attendant at the Ball Seminary, located in 
the village of his birth. 

He is now an agent for the Troj'- & Boston Railroad, 
and a coal and lumber dealer; and is regarded as one of 
the most enterprising men in the north part of Rensselaer 
county. 

He is a sound Republican; his political antecedents 
were Whig. He has been Town Clerk, and for five years 
Commissioner of Common Schools. For eight years, he 
held the office of Justice of the Peace, and is the present 
incumbent of that position. In 1865, Mr. White was 
elected to the Assembly, over Chauncey B. Slocum, the 
Democratic candidate, by five hundred and eighty-nine 
majority. During the session of 1866, he was Chairman 
of the Committee on the Expenditures of the House. 
He was again nominated for Member of Assembly, 
last fall, against Gideon Reynolds, who has been widely 
known in political circles, for many years. Mr. Reynolds 



390 LIFE SKETCHES. 

had formerly been a Republican, of no insignificant power, 
in Rensselaer county. Such . was his shrewdness, as a 
political manager, he had, for a long time, been one of the 
controlling spirits of his party, and had been the recipient 
of official favor from the national administration, holding 
the office of Internal Revenue Collector for the Fifteenth 
District, at the time of his nomination for the Assembly. 
When the issues between President Johnson and the 
Republican party began to assume a tangible shape, Mr. 
Reynolds went according to the policy of the Presi- 
dent, and afterwards received from the Democrats the 
nomination against Mr. White. If he had any hopes 
that he could be elected by a combination of disaffected 
Republicans with the Democracy, he must have been con- 
vinced of his error, when the election displayed a majority 
of nearly one thousand in favor of Mr. White. 

The Speaker appointed Mr. White Chairman of the 
Committee on Expenditures of the House, and a member 
of the Committee on Internal Affairs. His thorough con- 
versance with business matters, qualifies him for these 
positions. He is of unimpeachable character ; and, though 
but little skilled in debate, he makes a very reliable repre- 
sentative. 



MARK D. WILBER. 



Mr. Wilbee was born in Clinton, Dutchess county, 
New York., on the 12th day of August, 1829. His father 
is a farmer — a descendant of one of the oldest New Eng- 
land families. They were Friends, or Quakers ; hence, 
they had no public part in our Revolutionary struggle. 
His maternal grandfather, Doctor John Dodge, held a 
commission as Surgeon in the army, during the war of 
1812-14. He practiced his profession many years in 
Schenectady, and afterward settled and died in Dutchess 
county. He was the son of the Rev. Doctor John Dodge, 
who officiated at the first Baptist service on Manhattan 
Island ; and was also a physician and surgeon, practicing 
in New York city during the Revolution. 

Mr. Wilbek, in youth, possessed a temperament of an 
exceedingly nervous and delicate character. He entered 
Fairfield Academy to prepare for college ; but, after two 
years of study, his health forbidding close application, he 
left to recuperate his strength, by travel. He first visited 
the principal cities of the United States and Cuba ; he 
then went to Chagres, and crossed to Panama, making the 
passage in the most primitive style to Gorgona, and 
finished the journey, with a single companion, on foot. 
After spending several weeks in New Granada, he visited 
Central America and Mexico, and sailed from Acapulco 
to San Francisco — California was then a Territory — 
where he settled temporarily. In that genial climate, he 
became the embodiment of physical health. When the 
State was admitted, the first on the Pacific coast, he took 
an earnest interest in its prosperity, entering actively into 
trade, mining and agriculture. He had the first threshing 
machine built, and fed the product of a thousand acres of 
the first wheat and barley threshed, on the coast. In 



392 LIFE SKETCHES. 

1851 and 1852, he was President of the Settlers' Asso- 
ciation, a body organized to protect the settler equitably 
against the Mexican Land Grant monopolies. He stumped 
the State for Pierce in 1852, running as Representative 
to the Assembly, for the Sacramento District. He ran 
largely ahead of his ticket, but was defeated through 
ballot-box stuffing, advantage being taken of the sus]:>en- 
sion of the canvass during the hours of the Great confla- 
gration of the city, which was burned on the night of the 
election. He returned in 1853, to finish his studies. He 
read law at Yale, under Governors Dutton and Bissell. 
In 1855, he united with the newly organized Republican 
party, and stunrped Connecticut, New York and Pennsyl- 
vania, for Fremont. He graduated, was admitted to the 
Bar, in 1856, and entered upon the practice of his profes- 
sion, in New York city, removing his residence to Pough- 
keepsie. In the early part of the rebellion, he aided in 
the organizing of troops, and, in 1862, entered the service- 
as Quartermaster of the 159th Regiment New York State 
Volunteers. Afterward, he served upon the Staff of General 
Albert E. Paine in the Department of the Gulf. About 
a year afterward, he resigned, on account of physical dis- 
ability. In 1864, he was elected by the Union party to the 
Assembly, serving on the Committees of Judiciary and 
Federal Relations. During the session, he was chosen to 
advocate the bill ratifying the Constitutional Amendment 
prohibiting Slavery. His speech on that occasion was a 
masterly effort in logic, history and statistical proof. It 
was published in several papers, together with three edi- 
tions, numbering 20,000 copies, printed and circulated by 
the Union State Central Committee, as a campaign docu- 
ment. He was renominated, by acclamation, and elected 
in 1865, serving on the Committees of Cities and Insur- 
ance; and he was reelected in 1866, a compliment 
bestowed upon no predecessor. 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 393 

Mr. Wilber is a man who labors for the benefit of his 
city and county. He is the projector of the Pough- 
keepsie and Eastern, and Poughkeepsie City Rail Roads, 
and other projects, the consummation of which is due 
almost entirely to his untiring energy. He is the Lecturer 
on Commercial Law, in the Eastman Commercial College, 
in the city of Poughkeepsie. As a public speaker, 
whether in the forum or on the lecture rostrum, he dis- 
plays a versatility of oratorical power seldom excelled. 
In the present Legislature, Mr. Wilber is Chairman of 
the Committee on the Affairs of Cities, one of the most 
important in the House, and is looked upon as a sagacious 
Member. 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 



Mr. Williams was born in Bolton, Connecticut, on the 
6th day of September, 1815. His parents were from 
Wales. He was elected to the Assembly in 1865, from the 
First (Buffalo) District of Erie, and served on the Canal 
Committee. He was reelected from the Second District, 
in 1866, by a closely disputed contest, running fifty ahead 
of his ticket, and receiving a majority of twenty-seven 
votes. He is serving on the Railroad Committee. 

Mr. Williams is a self-made man, he has educated him- 
self, and acquired large means by his remarkable industry 
and perseverance. 

As a speaker, he is fluent and logical. He does not enter 
into mere technical controversies with his opponents, but 
upon all the political issues, and upon all questions which 
vitally affect the interests of his constituents, he arises 
fearlessly and enters spiritedly into debate. In this 
respect, he has already made his mark in the Assembly. 
50 



394 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Pie has been a Banker, in Buffalo, for twenty-eight 
years, and is regarded in commercial circles as a gentle- 
man of fine financial ability. Politically, he is a life-long 
Democrat, taking a prominent part in politics ; socially, 
he is highly esteemed in all circles of society, and is 
regarded, by all parties, as a fearless and upright man. 



WILLIAM B. WILSON. 



Mr. Wilson, the representative of the Second District 
of Queens county, was born in the city of New York, in 
the year 1820. Having a passion for the sea, during his 
boyhood, he entered the United States service on board 
the Independence, Commodore Nicholson. His first 
voyage was to Russia, to which country the Independence 
carried Hon. George M. Dallas, United States Minister 
to that empire. The ship then recrossed the Atlantic, and 
went to Rio Janeiro, her appointed station. On this 
voyage, Mr. Wilson spent between three and four years, 
and then returned to New York. He then left the navy, 
and went to reside in Newark, New Jersey, where he 
remained until the death of his father. Shortly afterward, 
he came to Albany, where he made himself master of the 
art of sail-making, devoting several years to the pursuit 
of it. He then returned to Newark, where he resided, 
between five and six years. While in Newark, Mr. 
Wilson was an active member of the Fire Department, 
and rose to be Chief Engineer — a position which he held 
for some years, and until the breaking up of the volunteer 
system. 

After leaving Newark, he resided in the city of Brook- 
lyn, and became proprietor of a hotel in that city, in which 



HENRY WOLTMAN. 395 

business he has ever since remained. In 1861, he removed 
to Astoria, his present place of residence. 

Mr. Wilson was married about twenty years ago. His 
wife and three children still survive. He has always been 
a sound and consistent Democrat, of the old Jacksonian 
school, never swerving, for an instant, from his party 
fidelity. He is a quiet and attentive member of the 
House, taking up none of its time in speech-making, but 
is always on hand to cast his vote when it is needed by 
his constituents or his party. 



HENRY WOLTMAN, 



Mr. Woltiian is a native of Germany. He has seen a 
great variety of incidents, and, for several years, has been 
conspicuous in the local politics of his district. He is 
thoroughly imbued with the principles of the Democracy, 
and is considered to be a pretty shrewd manager. 

Mr. Woltman was born in Bremen, Germany, April 
21st, 1831. He is the son of an innkeeper, who also 
carried on a distillery. Leaving the public school, at the 
age of fifteen, he went to sea as a cabin boy, making a 
voyage from Bremen to New York, thence to Trinidad, 
and from that place to Bremen. Remaining in port a 
short time, he shipped before the mast, and made three 
or four voyages between his native town, the United 
States, and the West Indies. During his last voyage, 
becoming tired of a seaman's life, he ran away from the 
vessel while in New York harbor ; or, to use his own 
expression, he "started off without leave," and sought a 
more congenial occupation. In 1849, he was employed as 
clerk in a grocery store, but, not being entirely satisfied 
with that avocation, he succeeded in being appointed on 



396 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the Municipal Police force, and acted as knight of the 
" locust club " until the organization of the Metropolitan 
Police, when he refused to be retained on the new force. 
Mr. Woltman then went on the street cars as conductor, 
and continued in that capacity, from 1857 to 1859 ; he was 
bookkeeper for the livery firm of Messrs. Towle & 
Rover, from that time until 1862, when he accepted an 
appointment in the New York City Inspector's office, as 
Health Warden, and held it until the office was abolished, 
in March, 1866. After that, he was a clerk in the Mayor's 
office three or four months, and then was appointed 
General Foreman of Lands and Places in the Street 
Commissioner's office. He was elected by the Tammany 
Democracy from the Twelfth Assembly District of New 
York. 



ABNER I. WOOD. 



Mr. Wood was born, February 4th, 1813, and is, there- 
fore, one of the oldest men in the Assembly. At the time 
of his birth, his parents resided in Clifton Park, Saratoga 
county, New York, where his father carried on the business 
of shoemaking and tanning, until the winter of 1835, 
when he removed to Clarkson, Monroe county. He is of 
Irish descent — three generations in his lineage dating back 
to birth under the skies of Erin. His grandfather, in the 
paternal line, when but fifteen years old, enlisted in the ser- 
vice of his country, and served three years in fighting the 
French and Indians, in the old border wars. When this 
period of strife had passed, he settled in the town of 
Amenia, Dutchess county, became a Baptist preacher, and 
preached to the same congregation until his death, which 
occurred in 1810. 



ABXEE I. WOOD. 397 

To the subject of our sketch, very meagre facilities for 
education were afforded. Even such advantages as a 
common school could give were his only, until he attained 
the age of twelve years. At fifteen years of age, he com- 
menced learning the trade of shoemaking, with his father, 
and continued in that occupation, until 1844, since which 
time he has been a farmer. He removed from Clarkson to 
Brockport, Monroe county, in January, 1841, and after 
residing there four years, again changed his residence to 
Parma, in the same county, where he has since continued 
to reside. 

In 1850, Mr. Wood was elected Assessor of his town, 
by the Whig party, which office he held three years. He 
had voted with that party since attaining his majority, 
and maintained the same party relations, until the forma- 
tion of the Republican party. He served his town as 
Supervisor, during the years 1858, '59, '60 and '65, his 
faithfulness as such officer being fully attested by these 
repeated elections. In the fall of 1865, he was elected 
Member of Assembly, by a majority of seven hundred and 
fifty-one over the Democratic candidate. His reelection 
last fall, was by a complimentary majority of eight hun- 
dred and fifty-eight, his own town speaking his popularity 
at home, by giving three hundred and ten of the very 
flattering vote. 

Mr. Wood is an efficient representative. He is a mem- 
ber of the Canal Committee, and the Committee on Chari- 
table and Religious Societies, and is also Chairman of the 
Committee on Expenditures of the Executive Department. 
He is, therefore, one of the working men of the House. 
He possesses a cordial, social temperament, and is at all 
times courteous and obliging. A man of good personal 
presence, his unpretending manner readily wins respect 
and confidence ; and he blends always with his action, the 
convictions of an earnest, Christian gentleman. 



DANIEL P. WOOD. 



Daniel "Wood, the father of the subject of this sketch, 
came, in 1800, to Pompey, Onondaga county, from the 
Berkshire Hills. Daniel P. Wood is of New England, 
Massachusetts stock. And this implies more than many 
men, whose minds are biased by religious, sectional or 
political antagonisms, are willing to admit. 

Massachusetts is, in some important respects, the infe- 
rior of this our native State. She has many faults of 
history and character. She has given birth to not a few 
unworthy sons and daughters. But, after all, in spite 
of all that may be truthfully said about the Puritan 
sternness and Calvinistic bigotry, the persecution of Bap- 
tists and Quakers, the Cotton Mathers and Salem Witches 
of the j)ast, or the lax notions and heresies of the present, 
spite of all the business and political sins fairly or unfairly 
laid at her door by Democrats and high churchmen, by 
Sunset Cox and Horatio Seymour, Massachusetts is a 
commonwealth eminent among her sisters for the nobler 
qualities. Considering her numbers and the extent of her 
territory, her history cannot easily be surpassed for variety 
of excellence. Her children get from her an early moral 
and intellectual training, a personal independence and love 
of liberty, and a political education of that enlarged 
selfishness which subordinates States to the nation, the 
interests of the individual to the interests of the masses, 
which holds the home prosperity — as bound up in, and 
inseparable from, the prosperity of neighbors and sisters. 
Those sons of hers, who go wrong, are unjust to their 
mother and share nothing of her spirit. 

Hon. Daniel P. Wood is an old friend of ours. Our 
acquaintance dates from his entrance into college, and we 
have watched with interest his subsequent career. He 



DANIEL P. WOOD. 399 

inherited, and has exhibited through life, the New England 
traits — readiness to labor and to learn, strength of will, 
forecast and sympathy with those movements which have 
for their end the well-being of the country, and for their 
means the advancing condition of all classes and races. 
His father was a lawyer and farmer, but farming was his 
main occupation. Mr. "Wood worked diligently on the 
farm till he was twenty years old, acquiring a vigor of 
constitution which enabled him, in after years, to endure 
the severest mental labor. After a preparatory course 
at Pompey Hill Academy, Mr. Wood entered Hamilton 
College. There he not only disciplined his mind by a 
mastering of the class studies, but expanded it by a wide 
range of reading. He studied law at Pompey with 
Victory Bhidseye. In 1846 he commenced the practice 
of law at Syracuse. His industry and skill gave him great 
success. He was Corporation Attorney for three years, 
and his general business was so large and attended to 
with such fidelity that in 1853 his health broke down. In 
that year and the year 1854 he consented to represent his 
District in the Assembly, in the hope of good from lighter 
labors and a change of occupation. But the legislation 
of those years was very important, and Mr. Wood was 
too earnest and active to give the needed rest to his 
worn out frame. In 1853 he was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Salt, and was on the Committees on Claims 
and the Code. On this last Committee was Arphaxad 
Loomis, and David Dudley Field, another codifier, was 
often present at its sessions. The Committee sat many 
hours each day, entertaining the most important dis- 
cussions, demanding for their proper handling severe 
thought and wide knowledge, and Mr. Wood brought to 
them his legal acumen and conscientious industry. 

The canal policy came up for review and determination; 
the Legislature of this year submitted the question of 



400 LIFE SKETCHES. 

debt for tne completion of the enlargement to the people, 
and in the long, exciting and able debates Mr. Wood was 
prominent and influential. He was one of the Managers, 
on the part of the Assembly, of the impeachment of 
Canal Commissioner, John C. Mather. To have been 
assigned such important posts by a house politically 
opposed to him, and during his first year as a legislator, 
was no light tribute to his reputation and powers. 

In 1854, as Chairman of the Committee on Colleges, 
Academies, &c, he matured and carried through the act 
creating the Department of Public Instruction. He was, 
this year, a Member of the Committee of Ways and 
Means. He attended moderately to his profession during 
the three years immediately following, but, in 1857, a 
hemorrhage of the throat or lungs brought him to the 
borders of death. Most men would have given way, 
but the will of Mr. Wood triumphed over disease. As 
soon as he could cleverly move, he started for South 
Carolina, returning thence on horseback. 

In 1864, '65, '66, he was elected to the Assembly, as 
re|:>resentative from the Second District of Onondaga 
county. In 1865 and '66, he was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Canals, a position requiring, almost ceaseless 
labor. He understood the canals, knew the burdens laid 
upon their broad and patient backs, and defended their 
interests, with honor to himself and usefulness to the 
State. In 1865, he was Chairman of the Committee to 
receive the remains of President Lincoln, at the city of 
New York, and conduct them through the State. He 
was also on the Ways and Means, a Committee of which 
he is this year (1867) the Chairman. 

Mr. Wood was a Whig, then a Republican. During 
the wai*, he labored without ceasing. The first regiment 
which went from Syracuse was raised in one week. In 
that same period, mainly through the exertions of Mr. 



ELEAZER WOOSTEE. 401 

Wood, nearly $20,000 was contributed on behalf of the 
soldiers and their families. His patriotism knew no fear 
or faltering ; he kept up his patience and his hope, speak- 
ing words of good cheer all the more when hours were 
darkest. 

As a legislator, Mr. "Wood has but few equals in either 
House, for vigor, activity and versatility. He speaks 
often, but never without a good understanding of his sub- 
ject. He does not talk buncombe, nor on topics aside from 
proper legislative business. He is clear, precise, and aims 
directly at the point, caring little for mere ornament ; but 
his thrusts are as telling as though the hilt of his sword 
was jeweled and its blade of Damascus steel. 



ELEAZER WOOSTER. 



Mr. Wooster has fought his way in life with rigid per- 
severance. Never having been in circumstances which 
favored a liberal education, he has had to acquire what 
knowledge he possesses, by solitary study. Taking, as a 
foundation, what learning he had gained in the common 
schools of New Hampshire, before he was fifteen, he has 
added thereto, until he has become well informed, both 
professionally and socially. Mr. Wooster is a native of 
New Hampshire, and is a lawyer by profession. His 
residence is in the town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer county, 
New York, where he has lived for a number of years, 
building up a business which brings him a comfortable 
income. At the Bar he holds a fair position ; and, in the 
prosecution of his cases, meets with an average degree of 
success. In his district, he carries with him no little politi- 
cal influence, and is a good manager in a campaign. 
51 



402 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Having held, in an acceptable way, different town offices, 
Mr. Wooster has made many hearty friends. In 1859, he 
was candidate for District Attorney, on the " Know 
Nothing" ticket, and ran 1,700 ahead of his ticket, being 
defeated, however, by 300 majority, on account of a com- 
bination of the Democrats with the People's party. In 
the Assembly of 1866, Mr. Wooster bore a good reputa- 
tion for integrity. Ill health compelled him to be absent 
a portion of the time ; but, whenever occasion demanded 
his attendance, he was found in his seat, though he might 
have had a valid excuse for being away. He was returned 
to the present Legislature by a most emphatic vote in his 
favor. 



NATHANIEL J. WYETH 



Mr. Wyeth's father, Charles Wyeth, was an extensive 
silk merchant in Baltimore, and his mother, Elizabeth 
Wyeth, nee Norris, was a native of the same city. The 
Wyeth family became divided, in the early years of the 
American colonies, one branch settling in Massachusetts, 
and the other, in Virginia ; of the latter branch, George 
Wyeth became the most eminent, having been a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence, and a distinguished mem- 
ber of the Convention that framed the Constitution of 
the United States. 

Nathaniel J. Wyeth was born in the city of Baltimore, 
Maryland, in 1830. He was named after his great uncle, 
Nathaniel J. Wyeth, of Cambridge, well known as a 
pioneer hunter and trapper with Kit Carson, who is 
spoken of by Washington Irving and Schoolcraft in 
their writings, as a man of sterling mind ; and he likewise 



NATHANIEL J. WYETH. 403 

invented many useful machines, as is shown by the patent 
office at Washington. 

At the very early age of four years, the subject of this 
article was sent to the boarding school, at Mount Hope, 
where he remained until the death of his mother, which 
occurred when he was eleven years old. Soon after this 
bereavement, he was placed in the classical high school, at 
Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he received a careful 
course of mental training, in mathematics, rhetoric, and the 
classics. His instructors were ripe scholars, and experi- 
enced educators ; and they soon initiated their pupil into 
a course of culture which laid the foundations of good 
scholarship. Mr. Wyeth's father, having a sound appre- 
ciation of the value of a liberal education, determined to 
give his son the most ample opportunities of a university 
course ; to further this design, he placed his boy, Nathan- 
iel, under the tuition of the Unitarian divine, E. Q. Sewell, 
when he was scarcely fifteen. In the summer of 1846, he 
was admitted to Harvard University, which was under the 
Presidency of JEdward Everett, of whom it may be said : 

" He put so much of soul into his act, 

That his example had a magnet's force. 

And aU were prompt to follow whom all loved." 

In the summer of 1850, Mr. Wyeth graduated, receiv- 
ing the title of A. B., and the next spring entered the 
Law School at Harvard, where he exclusively devoted his 
time to the study of law and political science, except the 
few hours occasionally given to reading Dante's immortal 
poem, under the supervision of the poet Longfellow. 
In a year and a half, he received the degree of L L. B. 
Having arrived at manhood, he immediately went to 
the city of New York, and opened an office for the prac- 
tice of his profession. A few months subsequently, he 
married, and changed his residence to Staten Island, where 
his home overlooks the broad bay of New York, and com- 



404 LIFE SKETCHES. 

mands a full view of the ocean. He still practices at the 
New York Bai', and is in the very heart of commercial 
activity and industrial pursuits. He represents Richmond 
county in the Assembly to which he was elected by the 
Democrats, by a majority of eight hundred and twenty- 
nine. He is member of the Committee on Colleges, 
Academies and Common Schools, and the Sub-Committee 
of the Whole. 

Mr. Wyeth is a man of good social traits, and sound 
opinions. 



TRUMAN G. YOUNGLOVE. 



Mr. Yottnglove's ancestors were of English extraction ; 
his paternal and maternal grandfather were both soldiers 
during the Revolutionary War, and both«drew pensions 
to the time of their death. His paternal grandfather was 
a native of Connecticut, but early in life emigrated to 
Vermont, in which State he reared his family. His 
parents came from Vermont to Edinburgh, Saratoga 
county, New York, where the subject of this sketch was 
born, October 31st, 1815. In December, 1846, he took up 
his residence in Albany, remaining there until May, 1850, 
when he went to Cohoes, from which village, in 1861, he 
moved to Crescent, Saratoga county, where he now has 
an elegant residence. 

His advantages of education were the best afforded by 
Select Schools in Fabius and Salina, Onondaga county, 
and at the Galway Academy, an institution then in charge 
of A. Watson, A. M., who gave it a reputation second 
to that of no other in the State. While prosecuting his 



TKUMAN G. Y0UNGL0VE. 405 

studies, he taught a district school one winter in Fabius, 
and two in Galway. 

As a student, he was noted for his diligence and profici- 
ency, being almost always first in his classes, and seldom 
failing to win the honors accorded to fine scholarship. He 
early cultivated a taste for historical reading ; and the les- 
sons of the ages have still for him a freshness of interest 
unsurpassed by current events of the day. With mental 
habits well formed, and intellectual powers adequately 
trained, professional life offered to him its distinctions; 
and with a view to such life, he studied law with the late 
Hon. Daniel Cadt, and Hon. Teunis Van Vechten, in 
Albany ; but soon after engaging in the practice of his 
profession, he embarked in business enterprises at Cohoes, 
and has ever since been conspicuously identified with all 
the interests of that thriving town. His engagements 
requiring constant professional skill, he has kept up his 
law library and law reading, and, on all legal points, he is 
his own best counselor. 

At Cohoes, Mr. Younglove began to display the great 
executive talent which has made for him a remarkable 
record. He was a Trustee and also the Secretary of the 
Mohawk River Mills corporation, (a company engaged in 
manufacturing knit goods), during the existence of the 
company, and for a considerable time, had the entire man- 
agement of its business. Subsequently, at the organization 
of the Clifton Company, also manufacturing knit goods, 
he became Trustee and President of it, and so remains. 
The same is true as respects his relations to the Cohoes 
Gas-Light Company. He has been Trustee, Secretary and 
Treasurer of the Cohoes Savings Institution, ever since 
its incorporation by the Legislature in 1851. He is a 
Director in the National Bank of Cohoes, and has been 
such from the organization of the Bank as a State insti- 
tution, in 1859 ; he is a Director in the Albany City Insur- 



406 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ance Company, also a Director in the Troy and Cohoes 
Railroad Company. He was "Water Commissioner of the 
Cohoes Water Works, and Treasurer of the Water Fund, 
for six years, and, as such, had the principal management 
in the construction of the works. He is Secretary and 
Agent of the Cohoes Company, which owns the entire 
water power of the Mohawk at that place, and a large 
amount of real estate. The business of the company con- 
sists in leasing the water power and real estate to the 
various manufacturing establishments, and the charge of it 
devolves almost exclusively upon Mr. Younglove. Of 
this company he is, and has been for several years, a Direc- 
tor. The dam and gate-house of the company, recently 
constructed mainly under his supervision, are among the 
finest in the United States, and the water power thus made 
available is scarcely equaled by any other in this country. 
For several years, he had the entire management of the 
Company's large Foundery and Machine Shop, both of 
which were built under his supervision. In company with 
another party, he has been for several years engaged in 
manufacturing straw board, and has had the entire direc- 
tion of the business. In the mean time, one of the finest 
mills in the United States for such manufacture, has been 
erected under his superintendency. Such eminence in 
business is praiseworthy in one who early learned, and, 
for a time, carried on the business of tanner, currier and 
shoemaker — branches of industry in which his father had 
been successful. 

The political career of Mr. Younglove dates from his 
twenty-first year, in which, as a Whig, he was elected 
Inspector of Common Schools, in Fabius, an office to which 
he was chosen a second time. In 1845, he was elected 
Justice of the Peace, on the Whig ticket, in the town of 
Galway, by a majority of twenty-five, when the town 
was Democratic by eighty. At Cohoes, he was elected 



TRUMAN G. Y0UNGL0VE. 407 

Trustee of the village, and held the position of President 
of the Board of Education for five years in succession, 
previous to his removal to Crescent. In 1864, he was the 
Republican candidate for Member of Assembly, from 
the First District of Saratoga county, but was defeated by 
thirty-eight majority, a result caused by the errors of the 
soldiers' vote, in the field, a number of ballots, evidently 
intended for him, being cast for the candidate in the Second 
Assembly Distinct. In 1865, he was put in nomination for 
the Assembly again, and, although the District was largely 
Democratic, was elected by three hundred and forty-seven 
majority. He was Chairman of the Committee on Trade 
and Manufactures. In 1866, he was returned to his seat 
by five hundred and fifty-nine majority. He is a member 
of the Railroad Committee, and Chairman of the Insurance 
Committee. 

As a politician, Mr. Younxjlove is keen and sagacious. 
His conclusions are not so much the result of quick intui- 
tion, as of a logical method of reasoning from given 
premises. They are neither hurriedly reached, nor hastily 
expressed. 

As a patriot, earnestly supporting the government in 
the hour of its greatest need and peril, few men, whose 
engagements kept them from field duty, have more 
unsparingly devoted their time and money to a sacred 
cause which could only triumph by the offerings willingly 
laid upon the altar of sacrifice. 

His life is most exemplary, and his character is adorned 
with virtues. While in Galway, he was for several years 
Superintendent of the Sunday School ; at Albany, he was 
a teacher, and at Cohoes, was again a Superintendent for 
ten years. In these relations, he has wielded powerful 
influences for good. 

Mr. Younglove, in his legislative career, has achieved 
an enviable reputation. Of undisputed integrity, clear in 



408 LIFE SKETCHES. 

his reasoning, and correct in his conclusions, his opinions 
have had great weight with all with whom he has come in 
contact; and his uniform courtesy has won him many- 
warm friends. His business talents and experience have 
peculiarly qualified him to arrive at safe judgments, and 
his course has been such as to encourage every commercial 
interest of the State, and foster every sound enterprise. 



LUTHER CALDWELL, 

CLERK OF THE ASSEMBLY 

At the opening of the present session of the Legisla- 
ture, a very spirited contest for the Clerkship of the 
House took place. The most prominent candidates were 
Joseph B. Cushman of Utica, who had filled the position 
for four successive years with marked ability, "Waldo M. 
Potter of Saratoga Springs, now Financial Clerk of the 
Assembly, and Major Luther Caldwell of Elmira. 
After numerous ballotings, Mr. Caldwell was elected. 

He descends from Puritan ancestry, his progenitors 
having immigrated to America in 1634. James Cald- 
well, who was shot by the British troops at the Boston 
massacre, at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, was 
a connection of this family. Luther Caldwell was born 
in the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, September 16th, 
1822. Twelve years ago he was a journeyman mechanic, 
working for the New York and Erie Railroad ; he there- 
fore heartily sympathizes with the mechanic and laboring 
classes. But, though his hands were hard and browned 
with toil, his mind was not inert. While he was going 
through with the routine of daily labor, he was also alive 
to the march of events. He had a good supply of that 
strong, New England sense, which has always had so 



LUTHER CALDWELL. 409 

much to do in directing and governing the masses ; and 
therefore, it is not astonishing that he aspired to pursuits 
which would bring him more immediately in contact with 
mind. 

Mr. Caldwell was appointed Deputy Clerk of the 
Assembly, for the years 1857, '59 and '60. In 1861, he 
enlisted in the 17th Regiment, New York Volunteers, 
which captured the first field piece taken from the rebels 
by the army of the Potomac ; he was commissioned Lieu- 
tenant, and was shortly afterward promoted to Captain ; 
he has since been breveted Major, for his valor in the 
field, by Governor Fenton. In the army he was prompt 
in the performance of duty, and uncomplaining under 
privations. After his Regiment was mustered out of the 
service, in 1863 (it went out for two years), he bought a 
half interest in the Elmira Daily Advertiser, of which 
he is now the Editor-in-Chief. Mr. Caldwell is some- 
what widely known as a Member of previous Repub- 
lican State Conventions, having been Reading Secre- 
tary in 1859, '65 and '66. In political canvasses, he is 
regarded as an excellent campaign speaker, being familiar 
with party policies as well as incidents. His previous 
experience as Deputy Clerk, familiarized him with his 
present duties, upon which he entered as no novice. 
He is rapid in the dispatch of business before the House, 
never causing delay by any oversight of his. His powers 
of physical endurance are very great, and his voice 
is as clear and distinct as a clarion. Thus far, Mr. Cald- 
well has given genei*al satisfation to both parties, and we 
doubt not that, when the session closes, he will bear away 
the palm of being one of the best Clerks which the 
Assembly has ever had. 



52 



NATHANIEL GOODWIN, 

KEEPER OF THE SENATE CHAMBER. 

Our readers will pardon us for taking just one step out- 
side the bounds of the Legislature, and giving a sketch of 
the life of Mr. Goodwin, who is known by the sobriquet 
of " Uncle Nat," to almost every legislator who has been 
in Albany, for the last ten years. He is emphatically 
" everybody's friend ;" and his good natured face, wrinkled 
more by constant smiles than by cares, "will be remem- 
bered by many, after he has passed from the theater of 
life. Many a State officer, Senator, and Assemblyman, 
will, in the future, recollect the kind offices and favors 
which " Uncle Nat " performed. 

Mi\ Goodwin was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, 
Jnly 9th, 1803, within a few rods of Plymouth rock, of 
which he sold many a piece to travelers, when a boy. 
Being brought up near the sea shore, he possessed a great 
desire to go to sea. Having acquired an education in the 
common schools of New England, at the age of seventeen, 
he shipped, at New Bedford, on board of a wdialer, and 
went to the coast of Brazil. After an absence of twelve 
months, during which time he was not once on shore, he 
returned home ; after remaining about a month, he went 
on another whaling voyage, going round Cape Horn 
(the Cape of Storms), thence along the coast of Chili, Peru, 
and California ; having remained on those whaling grounds, 
for one season, they sailed to the Sandwich Islands for sup- 
plies of wood and water and provisions. They remained in 
harbor, for four weeks, and then put back to their old 
cruising ground. Having filled their ship with a cargo of 
oil, they returned to New Bedford, having made a cruise of 
twenty-nine months. He afterward made several voyages, 
on board merchant vessels, to England, South America, 
Cuba, and other parts. During one of his absences, he was 



NATHANIEL GOODWIN. 411 

shipwrecked off the Bahama Banks ; the vessel was a total 
wreck, but he was saved by wreckers, and taken to 
Havana. It is impossible, in this brief space, to relate the 
thrilling adventures which he had, while a sailor. 

When Mr. Goodwin was twenty-four, being tired of a 
roving life, he went to Homer, Cortland county, New 
York, and bought a farm which he managed for about six 
years, and then sold out, subsequently following various 
occupations. In 1840, he was elected Collector of the 
town of Homer, on the Whig ticket. Having seen 
the workings of slavery in the course of his travels, and 
having imbibed a goodly amount of " Plymouth atmos- 
phere," in his youth, he espoused the cause of the 
Abolitionists in 1842, being appointed by the Abolition 
Society to distribute documents, and appoint meetings in 
the State. In 1845, through the assistance of his friends, 
he established at Cortland ville, New York, an Abolition 
newspaper called The True American. He sold his interest 
two years afterward. In 1846, Mr. Goodwin went to Ten- 
nessee, in behalf of the Abolition Society, to purchase from 
slavery the mother of Rev. J. W. Loguen ; but owing to 
public opinion in that quarter, her master did not dare 
sell her. He remained in the employ of the society, until 
1848. After that time, he held town office for several 
terms, and in 1852, was appointed Janitor of the Assembly. 

From 1852 to 1857, he was employed by the Western and 
Harlem Railroad Companies. In 1857, he was appointed 
to fill the vacancy, as a door-keeper in the Senate ; and in 
1858 was appointed by resolution, as keeper of the Senate 
Chamber, which position he has held ever since. 

Of course it is unnecessary to add, that " Uncle Nat " 
is an " out and out " Republican. He has been a friend to 
the slave, from the time when " Abolitionist " was an 
opprobrious epithet, but he has lived to see the triumph 
of the great principles of Right. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 

NUMBER OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DISTRICTS, AND THE COUNTIES AND 
WARDS COMPOSING THE SAME. 

Lieut.-Governor Stewart L. Woodford, Brooklyn, Kings county. 

Dist. Counties and Wards. Senators. 

1. Suffolk, Queens and Richmond counties, Nicholas B. La Bait. 

2. 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and 19th 

wards of Brooklyn, Henry R. Pierson. 

3. 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 

17th and 18th wards of Brooklyn, and 
towns of Flatbush, Flatlands, Graves- 
end, New Lots, and New Utrecht, of 
Kings county, Henry C. Murphy. 

4. 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 14th 

wards of New York, Benjamin Wood. 

5. 10th, Uth, 13th and 17th wards of New 

York, Charles G. Cornell. 

6. 9th, 15th, 16th and 18th wards of New 

York Abraham Lent. 

7. 12th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22d wards of New 

York, Thomas Murphy. 

8. "Westchester, Putnam and Rockland 

counties, Edmund G. Sutherland. 

9. Orange and Sullivan, Henry R. Low. 

10. Ulster and Greene, George Chambers. 

11. Dutchess and Columbia, Edward G. "Wilbor. 

12. Rensselaer and Washington, James Gibson. 

13. Albany, Lorenzo D. Collins. 

14. Delaware, Schoharie and Schenectady, ... Charles Stanford. 

15. Montgomery, Fulton, Saratoga and 

Hamilton, Adam W. Kline. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 413 

Dist. Counties and Wards. Senators. 

16. Warren, Essex and Clinton Moss K. Platt. 

17. St. Lawrence and Franklin, Abel Godard. 

18. Jefferson and Lewis, John O'Donnell. 

19. Oneida, Samuel Campbell. 

20. Herkimer and Otsego, George H. Andrews. 

21. Oswego, John J. Wolcott. 

22. Onondaga, Andrew D. White. 

23. Madison, Chenango and Cortland, James Barnett. 

24. Tompkins, Tioga and Broome, Ezra Cornell. 

25. Wayne and Cayuga, Stephen K. Williams. 

26. Ontario, Yates and Seneca, Charles J. Folger. 

27. Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben, John I. Nicks. 

28. Monroe, Thomas Parsons. 

29. Niagara, Orleans and Genesee, Richard Crowley. 

30. Wyoming, Livingston and Allegany Wolcott J. Humphrey. 

31. Erie, David S. Bennett. 

32. Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, Walter L. Sessions. 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SENATORS, 

The Counties in which they Reside, Post-Office Address, and Politics. 



Name of Senators. 


Counties. 


Post-office address. 


Politics. 






Springfield, 


Republican. 






Republican. 


Bennett, David S., 




Buffalo, 


Republican. 






New York Mills, 

Stone Ridge, 

West Troy, 




Chambers, George, 


Ulster, 


Democrat. 






Republican. 


Cornell, Charles G., 


New York, 
Tompkins, 


New York City, . 
Ithaca, 


Democrat. 


Cornell, Ezra, 


Republican. 


Crowley, Richard, 




Republican. 


Folger, Charles J., 






Republican. 


Gibson, James, 


Washington,... 
St. Lawrence,.. 
Wyoming, 
Montgomery, .. 




Republican. 


Godard, Abel 




Republican. 


Humphrey, Wolcott J.,... 




Republican. 


Kline, Adam W., 


Amsterdam, 


Republican. 


La Bau, Nicholas B., .. 


Republican. 


Lent, Abraham, 


Sullivan, 


New York City,.. 
Monticello, 


Republican. 


Low, Henry R., 


Republican. 


Murphy, Henry C, 




Democrat. 


Murphy, Thomas, 


New York, 

Chemung, 

Lewis, 


New York City,.. 
Elmira 


Republican. 


Nicks, John I., 


Republican. 


O'Donnell, John, 




Republican. 


Parsons, Thomas, 


Monroe, 




Republican. 


Pierson, Henry R., 








Piatt, Moss K., 








Sessions, Walter L., 


Chautauqua,... 
Schenectady, .. 
Westchester, .. 


Republican. 


Stanford, Charles, 


Schenectady, .... 
White Plains, 


Republican. 


Sutherland, Edmund G., 
White, Andrew D., 


Democrat. 
Republican. 


Wilbor, Edward G., 


Chatham, 


Republican. 


Williams, Stephen K., ... 




Republican. 


Wolcott, John J., 








Wood, Benjamin, 




New York City,.. 


Democrat. 







ALPHABETICAL LIST 



OF THE 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY, 

WITH THE DISTRICTS AND COUNTIES THEY REPRESENT, POST- 
OFFICE ADDRESS AND POLITICS. 

Hon. EDMUND L. PITTS, Speaker, Medina, Orleans County. 



Dis. 


Assemblymen. 


County. 


Post-office Address. 


Politics. 


? 








Republican. 


3 


Baker, John G., 

Baker, Stephen, 


Ulster, 






Putnam, 


Brewster's, 


Republican. 










Republican. 
Republican. 




Barker, Samuel M.,.. 


Schuyler, 


North Hector, ... 






Tioga, 




Republican. 
Republican. 


17 


Berryman, Wilson,.. 




New York city, .. 


3 


Bicknell, Richmond 


St. Lawrence, 


Potsdam, 


Republican. 


1 


Bigelow, Lafay'te J., 


Jefferson, 


Watertown, 


Republican. 


4 




New York, .... 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


1 




Republican. 


5 


Blauvelt, Charles, ... 


New York, 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


1 


Boyd, William B 

Briggs, Thomas A.,.. 
Bristol, William, 




Prattsburgh, 


Republican. 








Democrat. 




Wyoming, 


Gainesville, 


Republican. 




Bruce, Benjamin F., 
Brush, Augustus A., 






Republican. 
Republican. 


1 


Dutchess, 


Fishkill Plains,.. 




Buck, George W., 

Buck, Leander, 


Chemung, 

New York, 




Republican. 
Democrat. 


18 


New York city, .. 


5 
1 
3 
1 


3uckley, Caleb F 






Democrat. 






Democrat. 


Burrows, Roswell L. 
Button, Heman G.,.. 




Buffalo, 


Republican. 


Cattaraugus, .. 




Republican. 



416 



LIFE SKETCHES. 



Dis. 


Assemblymen. 


County. 


Post-office Address. 


Politics. 


3 


Candee, Samuel, 




Pompey Centre, 


Republican. 


9, 


Chamberlain, W. R., 
Clarke, Edgar B., 






Republican. 


1 




Unadilla Forks, 


Republican. 




Clark, William S.,... 






Democrat. 


1 








Republican. 






Fult'n & Ham. 




Republican. 




Crandall, Charles M. 
Creamer, Thomas J., 


Allegany, 




Republican. 


14 


New York city, .. 


Democrat, 


13 


Cregan, Bernard, 


New York, 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


o 


Cribben, Henry, 

Develin, John E., 








19 


New York, 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


7 








Democrat. 


2 


Donoho, Const'tine, 


New York,.... 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


1 






W. Taghkanick, 


Republican. 




Ellis, Charles G., 


Schenectady, 


Schenectady, 


Republican. 


1 








Republican. 


4 








15 


Frear, Alexander,.. 


New York, 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


21 


Genet, Henry W., ... 


New York, 


New York city, .. 


Democrat. 


? 


Gill, Columbus 






Republican. 
Republican. 
Republican. 








1 


Gleason, George M., 


St. Lawrence, 




11 


Gridley, John V., 


New York, 


New York city, .. 


Republican. 


1 


Gurley, William, 




Troy, 


Republican. 
Republican. 


1 






? 








Republican. 










Republican. 
Democrat. 


4 


Haynes, Stephen, ... 
Hinson, Charles W., 






1 




Buffalo, 


Democrat. 


2 






Republican. 


2 


Hiscock, L. Harris,.. 


Onondaga, 




Republican. 


2 


Hitchcock, Adol. F., 


Washington,.. 


Kingsbury, 


Republican. 






Montgomery, 




Republican. 


1 


Hoppin, Bushrod E. 
Hoyt, Charles S., 




Republican. 




Yates 




Republican. 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 



41' 



Dis. 


Assemblymen. 


County. 


Post-office Address. 


Politics. 


2 




Cattaraugus, .. 


Otto, 


Republican. 
Democrat, 


16 




New York city, .. 


<) 




Democrat. 




Juliand, Frederick, 


Chenango, 


Greene, 


Republican. 


s 




Franklin, 








Kimball, James W., 


Fort Covington, 


Republican. 


o 






New Paltz, 

Oswego, 


Republican. 


1 


Littlejobn, D. W. C, 




Republican. 


1 






Republican. 

Democrat. 


1 






Pittsford, 


1 




Maiden, 


Republican. 
Republican. 

Republican. 


•? 


McKinney, Charles, 
Mead, Jacob A., 




Redfield, 




Livingston, ... 


Mount Morris,... 


o 


Millspaugh, Geo. W. 


Orange, 


Goshen 


Democrat. 


2 


Minier, Christian,... 


Steuben 


Caton Centre, 


Republican. 


1 


Moody, Elisha, 


Niagara 




Republican. 


1 


Murphy, Michael C, 


New York 


New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


10 


Murphy, Owen, 


New York, 


New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


8 


Oakey, John, 


Kings, 


l::'_'Xas'ust..N.Y. 


Republican, 


3 


O'Reillv, Daniel, 


New York, 


New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


2 








Republican. 


2 


Penfield, George J.,.. 


Westchester,.. 


New Rochelle, ... 


I lemocrat. 




Phillips, Henry A:,.. 


Lewis, 




Republican. 


5 


Plumb, Joseph II..... 


Erie 


i row'nda, Cat.Co. 


Republican. 


., 






Niagara Falls, ... 
West Troy, 


Republican. 


•1 


Potter, Oscar F., 


Albany, 


Republican, 


4 


Purely, Samuel M., .. 


Erie 






1 


Westchester,.. 


West Farms, 


Democrat. 


r» 




New York, 


Williamsburgh,. 

New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


r 


Ransom, Frank A., 


Democrat. 






Now York city,.. 


Democrat. 


<! Reynolds, Austin L. 


Saratoga, 


S. Glens Falls, ... 


Republican. 


2 Rice, William H., ... 




Caughdenoy, 


Republican. 


Richmond, Seth M., 


Herkimer 


Little Falls, 


Republican. 


; 


Roberts, Ellis H 






Republican. 



418 



LIFE SKETCHES. 



Dis. 


Assemblymen. 


County. 


Post-office Address. 


Politics. 


3 


Robertson, Alex., ... 


Albany, 






9 


Rogers, Henrv, 


New York, 


New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


20 


Russell, Patrick 


New York, 


New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


3 


Sanford, George H., 

Schutt, Hiram 

Selkreg, John II., 




Oneida, Mad. Co. 
Port Gibson, 




1 


Ontario, 


Republican. 
Republican. 
Republican. 




Tompkins, 
Jefferson, 


o 


Shaw, Albert D., 


Cape Vincent, ... 


1 


Shiland, Thomas, ... 


Washington,.. 


Cambridge, 


Republican. 


6 


Sigerson, John, 


New York, 


New York citv,.. 


Democrat. 


1 


Skillman, Francis,.. 
Smith, Henrv, 








2 


Albany, 


Albany, 


Republican. 


1 


Smith, Joshua, 


T^ 1 


Cannonsville, 


Republican. 




Starr, David G., 
Stiles, Orson, 


Sullivan, 

Chautauqua, .. 
Rockland, 




Democrat. 


2 




Republican. 




Suffern, James 

Tarbox, Henry F.,... 
Torrev, Samuel II.,. 


Suffern's, 






Republican. 


2 






Republican. 


3 


Travis, David W 

Vandenberg, John,.. 


Westchester,.. 
Wayne, 


Peekskill, 


Republican. 


1 


Clyde 


Republican. 




VanValkenburg, J., 
Wagstaff, Alfred, Jr. 
Weed, Smith M., 
Welles, Samuel II.,.. 
Wendover, S. H...... 


Broome, 


Binghamton, .... 


Republican. 




Suffolk, 


Republican. 




Clinton, 




Democrat. 






Democrat. 


2 


Columbia, 


Stnvvesant, 


Republican. 


2 


White, Marshall F., 


Rensselaer, ... 


Hoosick Falls,... 


Republican. 


2 


Wilber, Mark 1)., 


Dutchess, 


Poughkeepsie, ... 


Republican. 


2 


Williams, William. 
Wilson, William B., 
Woltman, Henry, ... 




Buffalo, 


Democrat. 


o 






Democrat. 


12 


New York, 


New York city,.. 


Democrat. 


15 


Wood, Abner I., 
Wood, Daniel P., 






Republican. 


1 


Onondaga, 




Republican. 


S 


Wooster, Eleazer, ... 


Rensselaer, ... 




Republican. 




Wyeth, Nathaniel J. 
Younglove, T. G., 






Democrat. 


1 


Saratoga, 




Republican. 


. 





H 15 89 











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